RICHMOND, Va. -- Solid blue lights can now be seen on about two dozen police cruisers as they patrol the city the Richmond Police Department announced on Monday.
The center two LED lights, front and back on the car's light bar will be on when the vehicle is in use.
But, the department wants to remind the public that during an emergency or traffic stop, the entire light bar will flash as usual.
"If an officer is pulling you over, certainly the blue lights will be more active and you will see the flashing blue LED lights that the Richmond City marked police cars are equipped with," said Major Scott Booth.
City police set the "Blue Light Special" initiative in motion this past weekend. It's a move by the new Police Chief, Alfred Durham, designed to make the marked black and white cars more visible to the public.
"Several citizens came up to him and said 'I don't see enough of you; I don't see enough visibility in my community'" said Booth, who added that running solid lights is currently in use in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.
Ernest Sukens, who runs a food cart, watched several patrol cars go by, running the solid lights Monday morning.
"To me, it's a good thing, because they're doing something different and they are bringing something new to the community," Sukens said, while serving lunch to his customers.
"We're out there, the police are in the community, so this is one way he felt that could raise our profile and increase visibility," said Booth.
The initiative will not cost taxpayers any extra money and will be phased in as newer police cars hit the streets or older cars are outfitted with newer light bars.
