Selma motorists may see an abundance of patrol officers on the streets in the upcoming weeks, as this year’s Click-it-or-ticket campaign takes off.

On Monday, the program started, putting off-duty police officers onto the streets to search for motorists driving without seat belts and any other traffic related crimes.

The overtime for the project is paid by a federal highway law enforcement grant, administered by ADECA, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

“What they’re (patrol officers) concentrating on is seat belt enforcement, and other traffic violations,” Lt. David Evans, head of the Selma Police Department traffic division, said.

With the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, the officers will also be on the look out for anyone driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Evans said the department also tries to concentrate on a specific traffic violation other than seat belt violations during the Click-it-or-ticket campaign, in order to increase traffic safety even more, Evans said. This year, the patrol officers will pay particular attention to illegal u-turns.

“That has caused a few accidents of late,” Evans said.

According to Evans, the seat belt usage rate – 75 percent – is higher in Selma than the state average.

“We’ve been recognized for outstanding performance by the Central Alabama Law Enforcement Committee,” Evans said.

In fact, according to Evans, statistically, Selma’s seat belt usage rate is much higher than it should be. Evans said because Selma is in a rural area, with a large number of pick-up truck drivers and a large minority population, a 75 percent usage rate is unheard of, as these demographic groups don’t usually use seat belts.

“Even though we have all these factors weighing against us,” Evans said, “We’re at least at the state level or above.”

The Click-it-or-ticket campaign ends on June 9. The traffic division will also be available to answer specific calls concerning traffic problems throughout the city.

To contact the Selma Police traffic division regarding a safety issue, or to report a traffic violation, call 874-2123.