Dressed as bushes: Police ambushed drivers in an unusual enforcement operation
Police officers in New Jersey wore camouflage suits and hid in the vegetation to spot drivers using their phones. In just six hours, they issued 74 tickets. The fine for a repeat offense can reach $600.
Police officers in New Jersey dressed up as trees and bushes and managed to issue 74 tickets in just six hours as part of an operation against using mobile phones while driving.
The operation was conducted in the town of Dunellen, New Jersey. According to the American automotive magazine Car and Driver, the officers sat on stools while camouflaged in the vegetation, and some wore "ghillie" suits, typically used by snipers and hunters.
The police explained that the operation focused on a main street due to traffic congestion, a high volume of pedestrians, and several accidents that occurred there recently. Its goal was to enforce the law prohibiting holding a phone while driving and to remind drivers that messages and notifications can wait until the end of the trip.
Photos from the operation posted on social media sparked significant interest. In one, an officer is seen sitting on a stool wearing a shirt that reads: "I'm not a cop." In another, an officer in a green camouflage suit is documented holding binoculars.
The camouflage allowed the officers to identify up close drivers who were holding a phone or looking away at a screen — violations that are harder to spot from a police cruiser.
Fines in New Jersey increase with each repeat offense: $200 for the first offense, $400 for the second, and $600 for the third. Drivers who accumulate three offenses may also lose their licenses for up to 90 days.
This is not the first time police departments have used disguises and unconventional observation points to catch distracted drivers. In San Bernardino, California, police previously dressed as beggars to catch drivers texting at traffic lights; in Canada, officers posed as construction workers and cyclists; and in Maryland, garbage trucks were used as elevated observation posts.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), drivers who look at a screen while driving are 7.8 times more likely to be the striking vehicle in a rear-end collision compared to driving without distraction. The Dunellen Police Department hopes the unusual operation will send a clear message to drivers: keep your eyes on the road, not on the screen.
