Traffic police want to publicly shame jaywalkers and cyclists who violate traffic rules by displaying photographs and videos of their offences in newspapers and on TV.

The images of jaywalkers, moped riders and cyclists will be collected from selected downtown road crossings.

But the radical scheme has come under fire from lawyers who claimed public humiliation was too heavy a punishment for jaywalking and warned of defamation lawsuits against police.

Police plan to start regular columns in newspapers and launch television programs to promote the program.