New undercover police car

[GASKETBOY]

On my way to CA early this morning I was a bit heavy with my right foot. As I made my way down the 17 I approached to pass a dark colored van with tinted windows the driver turned on the red and blue strobes in the rear window. Talk about a pucker factor at 2:30am!!!!!

That was his friendly warning for me to slow down. It worked.

Beware local guys - I wish I got a better look at exactly it was but it was a cargo style van, maybe dark maroon (?) with tinted rear windows.

When I transitioned to the 10WB he had a victim all pulled over. Could have been me.

Jeff

[Danr55]

Does this fall under the heading of "Things that make you say HMMMM!"?

[Michael P. Wole]

Couple of years ago, wife and I were enroute to Chicago...very sharp, loaded with accessaries(runnign boards, bed cover,etc) bright blue Dodge Dakota blew my doors off....several miles down the road there it sat with the fiberglass bed cover in the up position, red & blue lite bar hanging down and flashing...what a sleeper that was. Illinois State Police have a variety of vehicles you would never suspect. Also have a fleet of Harleys that they purchase with a big federal grant...referred to as the Evil Knevils.

[SLHetal]

A warning to all those traveling in the Ft, Myers, Naples, Alligator Alley, and Southwest Florida in general. Here is a recent list of the unmarked cars that are used for traffic patrols:
1.) a dark red 2006 Mustang convertible
2.) a black 2006 Mustang convertible
3.) a dark purple 2005 Ford 4 door full size sedan with 20" chrome wheels
4.) a black late model Ford Expedition
5.) a black late model Chevy Suburban
All of these vehicles have very dark window tinting and hidden police lighting in their grilles, rear window decks and above their rear view mirrors.
One evening I was running Alligator Alley from Naples to Miami. One can usually do around 85 and be below the "problem zone". A blonde in a very nice new silver Mercedes SL pulled up beside me, ran even for a little bit and then she pulled forward. I thought I'd pull in behind her and run for a while in her radar shadow since it appeared that she was going to maintain a time saving speed. We got up to about 110 and stayed there for quite a while. Then I guess she realized she was running late and I chickened out at 120 and dropped back to the "safe zone". About five miles later I passed the blonde in the silver SL. She was on the side of the road with a dark purple 2005 Ford full size sedan with 20" chrome wheels and flashing lights in it's grille parked behind her.
Sam

[vettestr]

On the same category of things that make ya say HMMMMM. I saw a pimped out truck with blacked out windows, they had more flashing red/blue lights than an Xmas tree. I saw the rear window covered in lights and Then the rim of the windshield and grill was covered too. So many lights that I do not think it was a cops car but HHMMMM ?? Two days ago I had a newer Ford pick up turn off a side street on to my road (E. bound Bell Rd. & 43 Ave.) I was at road speed so caught him and then passed him as he then came up to speed he passed me back as I let of the throttle. He diddled along for about a mile before he turned off the lights and then later turned on a side street?
The paint was a very nice maroon or burgundy red, 20 inch wheels, painted bed cover, great sounding exhaust = fully tricked out ! Either kids going to get busted for all the lights (red & blue at that) or a very expensive cop car. If it was a seized truck converted to undercover then they went way overboard on the lights.

[4RE KLR]

I got pulled over by a cop when I pulled into Llano, Texas.

I was not speeding in fact I was going too slow because I was looking for an street sign. The cop pulled me over and wrote me a ticket. He said they got me on radar from a plane back down the road going 8MPH over the limit. That's right folks 8MPH the ticket was $88.50 and had to be paid right then and there, and we live in Texas. Go figure.

I have heard that they use drug seizure cars for traffic now since these cars are usually in better shape than the squad cars. On the news here in Dallas a few moths back the average mileage on a police cruiser was 108K miles.

[Trueoo7]

If I'm not mistaken, they do not allow unmarked vehicles in NY state anymore and for good reason. Too many woman were getting pulled over and sometimes raped by cars pretending to be unmarked cops.

[Mulv]

Originally Posted by Trueoo7

woman were getting pulled over and sometimes raped by cars pretending to be unmarked cops.

Damn, now the machines are defiling our women! Where will it end? My toaster has a suspicious look on its slot, hmmmmm...

[Trueoo7]

I should go back and edit that but as long as I get my point across....

[Excaliber]

Transformers? Cars pretending to be cops...

Senior officers drive their PERSONAL car here in Hawaii and are paid a healthy monthly premium to do so. The new recruits get the marked cars, blue and white. The range of who might be a cop is endless. While many of them drive souped up 'Stangs and such, many others have 4 doors and even SUV's!

[HI Cobra]

And I might add that we have lost a couple of women here to imposters
with blue lights in the grill. If you aren't a cop you better not get caught
with ANY blue lights. Not only are the private cars "whatever" but they
now have several different types of temp. roof lights so what you may think
is a surfer with a rack may well be one of Hawaii's "finest". Used to be the
gum ball, not many any more. All this for an island!

[Ls6venom]

Out here in the the Chicagoland area they have patty wagons patrolling the streets all day everyday.

[BMK]

Then there is the green Cobra with the tag SGT on it....

[Danr55]

I can honestly say that I've never seen an official police Cobra. Where do they put the blue lights?

[trs900]

A state trooper years ago was raping women in rest stops here in Florida.. I think all police cars should have lights on top flashing at all times and be clearly marked this would prevent more speeding than any speed limit sign and criminals would think twice before doing their deed if they knew cops were every where.. Seems today the police are more interested in catching a law breaker than preventing crime before it happens.. guess its because no crime = no fine..

[trs900]

Forgot this, when we were in high school some guy I knew put red tape over his high beams-60 olds with 4 bulbs on front.. then he would pull up behind you at night and flash highs till you pulled over then fly around you blasting his horn..today he would probably get shot.. back in Indiana in the 60's red lights were the color of choice for police vehicles..

[mr0077]

4RE KLR, FWIW, Texas cops are required by law to release you for a speeding or open container violation (misdemeanor only I think) if you sign an agreement to appear (see below from Texas Transportation Code)...DOESN'T mean they all obey the laws they enforce, eh? What the guy did to you is/was called "Instanter Justice"...selective enforcement...


NOTICE TO APPEAR REQUIRED: CERTAIN
OFFENSES. (a) An officer shall issue a written notice to appear
if:
(1) the offense charged is speeding or a violation of
the open container law, Section 49.03, Penal Code; and
(2) the person makes a written promise to appear in
court as provided by Section 543.005.
(b) If the person is a resident of or is operating a vehicle
licensed in a state or country other than this state, Subsection (a)
applies only as provided by Chapter 703.
(c) The offenses specified by Subsection (a) are the only
offenses for which issuance of a written notice to appear is
mandatory.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended
by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, § 17.07, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.


§ 543.005. PROMISE TO APPEAR; RELEASE. To secure
release, the person arrested must make a written promise to appear
in court by signing the written notice prepared by the arresting
officer. The signature may be obtained on a duplicate form or on an
electronic device capable of creating a copy of the signed notice.
The arresting officer shall retain the paper or electronic original
of the notice and deliver the copy of the notice to the person
arrested. The officer shall then promptly release the person from
custody.

[JTD]

[LuvDaBlues]

Rockwall, Texas, east of Dallas, has I-30 running through it. I-30 is one of the main "pipe lines" for drugs from California and Mexico to the east. A few years back I think it was the county sheriff, Texas highway patrol and the city police together had an idea to set unmarked cars out and start profiling drivers passing through. It was like shooting ducks in a barrel. Some of the largest drug busts in Texas, if not the nation. They even caught some pro football players. Confiscating most of the vehicles. Soon there after the city police were driving some if the nicest squad cars and trucks painted in their new black and white theme.

They had to quit for some reason. Violation of civil rights from profiling if I remember.

[427sharpe]

Why worry about unmarked squad cars any more when they all want the blasted red light cameras! Some of the local cities (yes, I live in a speed trap zone) are trying to put them on I35 (runs thru town). Talk about 'selective enforcement' ! On the local Dallas news a few days ago was a story about a fellow who got nabbed by one of these cameras, even though the picture it sent him showed him in the intersection when the light changed. The official explanantion was that the cameras ticket line was not the white lines on the street, but an 'imaginary' line running from the edges of the curbs! The fellow raised some fuss and the city dropped the ticket ($185) but KEPT a 'processing' fee of $90. What a racket! On a second note, it received publicity down here that in the fair state of Virginia speeding tickets START at $1,000 and go up!?!?! Say it isn't so! At those prices VA cops should be in a Bentley Turbo.