Interstate drivers in The Crescent City better be following the rules of the road. Starting today, more Louisiana State Police troopers will be out on patrol, monitoring area interstate expressways and state highways.

“Drivers can expect to see the troopers out on safety patrols, enforcing speeding, apprehending impaired drivers, providing assistance to drivers who have been involved in accidents,” said New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison, during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

The program is called the “Local Agency Compensated Enforcement” program, or L.A.C.E. It means that off-duty state troopers are being offered overtime details to patrol the roads.

“I want to reduce fatalities. I want to save lives. I want to slow people down. I want to affect aggressive drivers,” said Louisiana State Police Colonel Mike Edmonson, when asked what the goals of L.A.C.E. are.

The program will cost the city of New Orleans about $200,000 a year, but Edmonson said a lot of the cost will be made up in traffic fines. Troopers will be targeting parts of the city with traffic trouble, including New Orleans East.

“Historically, the High Rise has seen a little more than other areas. However, it is for all the highways that move through New Orleans,” Harrison said.

State troopers have been a visible presence in the city, especially in the French Quarter, Marigny and CBD, since last July 4. Edmonson said in that time, troopers have written 2,000 tickets, made 490 arrests and answered 1,800 calls for service.

Adding troopers to patrol area roads will also free up NOPD officers to respond to crimes and other emergencies in their own districts.

“It’s all about support,” Edmonson said. “It’s all about blending with the city to do those things, that again, we believe are successful.”

Successful, and visible, because police want residents to know police are watching.

“We’re not going anywhere. It’s a commitment I made. We’re going to be here, and I can promise as long as I’m superintendent during this administration, you’re going to see troopers in the city,” Edmonson said.