N.J. state troopers to prowl in 'ghost cars'

Speeders and reckless drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike have a new, less easily identified police car to watch out for.

The New Jersey State Police unveiled the new paint scheme for some of its Chevrolet Caprice cruisers on Thursday.

The cars are sort of a hybrid of marked and undercover patrol vehicles. From a distance, the black vehicles appear to be unmarked. But up close, gray State Police branding is visible on the front doors, in an almost ghostly way.

A handful of the cars, which the force has indeed dubbed the "#NJSPGhostCar" on its social media accounts, will be on patrol up and down the Turnpike.

"Most of our unmarked cars are completely unmarked, other than the emergency lights and sirens," said Capt. Stephen Jones, a State Police spokesman.

The new paint job makes the "ghost cars" more identifiable to motorists, and lets anyone pulled over know they're speaking to a legitimate officer.

"You can see that it is a trooper's car," Jones said. "It's one more signal."

Due to some criminals masquerading as police in unmarked cars, police have advised motorists to drive to a public place if they were being pulled over in a desolate area.

Jones said the relatively unmarked cars are meant to help troopers get dangerous drivers off the roads.

"There are a lot of people who are going to drive like an absolute maniac until they see a marked car, then they'll slow down and behave," he said. "This gives us an advantage in finding those people."

Contact Emily Babay at 215-854-2153 or ebabay@philly.com. Follow @emilybabay on Twitter.

Contact the Breaking News Desk at 215-854-2443 or BreakingNewsDesk@philly.com. Follow @phillydotcom on Twitter.