The Traffic Police is a
specialized unit of the
Sri Lanka Police
Sri Lanka Police (; ) is the civilian national police force of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The police force is responsible for enforcing criminal and traffic law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the p ...
responsible for overseeing and enforcing
traffic safety
Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures, such as traffic calming, to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, passengers of vehicles, and passenger ...
compliance Compliance can mean:
Healthcare
* Compliance (medicine), a patient's (or doctor's) adherence to a recommended course of treatment
* Compliance (physiology), the tendency of a hollow organ to resist recoil toward its original dimensions (this is a s ...
on roads and highways. It is headed by the Director of Traffic, in recent times a senior gazetted officer of the rank of
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). Therefore, the post is also referred to as DIG - Traffic.
History
With the enactment of the ''Motor Traffic Act of 1950'', the
Colombo Metropolitan Police identified the need for a unit for traffic control in the city of
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
. This unit was formed in 1951 and was expanded in 1953 to cover the whole island with the establishment of the Traffic Police Headquarters.
Units
Administration of the unit is carried out by the Traffic Police Headquarters, while there is a Traffic Unit in all
police station
A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...
s island wide.
Duties
* Enforcement of
traffic safety
Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures, such as traffic calming, to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, passengers of vehicles, and passenger ...
compliance Compliance can mean:
Healthcare
* Compliance (medicine), a patient's (or doctor's) adherence to a recommended course of treatment
* Compliance (physiology), the tendency of a hollow organ to resist recoil toward its original dimensions (this is a s ...
* Investigation of Motor accidents
* Piloting VIP transport details
* Traffic control during road closures
Uniform
Traffic police officers can be identified by the white colour
peaked cap
A peaked cap, peaked hat, service cap, barracks cover, or combination cap is a form of headgear worn by the armed forces of many nations, as well as many uniformed civilian organisations such as law enforcement agencies and fire departments. It d ...
s,
cross belts and
belts they wear on the standard police uniform.
See also
*
Highway patrol
A highway patrol is a police unit, detail, or law enforcement agency created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways within a jurisdiction. They are also referred to in many countri ...
External links and references
{{reflist
Sri Lanka Police
Sri Lanka Crime TrendsDuty of police to make roads safer for users - DIG, Traffic
Traffic Police
Traffic police (also known as traffic officers, traffic enforcement units, traffic cops, traffic monitors, or traffic enforcers) are units and Law enforcement agency, agencies who enforce Traffic#Rules of the road, traffic laws and Road traffic ...