The primary responsibility of the Escondido Police Department's Traffic Unit is to make the streets of Escondido as safe as possible for citizens and visitors traveling by foot, bicycle, or motor vehicle.

The Unit provides training, visual displays, and information at public functions, such as schools, senior centers, and special interest groups. Additionally, the Traffic Unit provides "top driver" classes to interested groups.

The Traffic Unit investigates traffic collisions, follow-up on hit and run collisions, and enforces traffic rules and regulations as they pertain in the Municipal Code and the California Code.
The Traffic Unit plans and coordinates special events with other City departments and civic sponsors. The officers from the Traffic Unit serve on the City's Safety Commission and coordinate safety issues with Traffic Engineering.

The goal and mission of the Escondido Traffic Unit is to manage traffic flow on city streets. This is in order to lessen vehicle collisions through a program that enhances the Traffic Unit's ability to enforce traffic laws and to respond to community traffic concerns.

The Traffic Unit is comprised of officers that utilize both police motorcycles and police vehicles. The police motorcycle is a highly unique tool in that it offers a wide variety of metropolitan enforcement capabilities, i.e., enforcement in high volume pedestrian/vehicular commute locations. The police vehicle demonstrates a high visibility approach to traffic enforcement.

Officers that deploy both the police motorcycle and police vehicle are trained in the investigation and analysis of all traffic collisions involving serious injury or death; all Federal, State, County, and City vehicles; and all hit and run collisions where serious injury or death occurs.