Undercover Cops

[Giancarlo]

Recently, a new "trend" has been arising with the Miami Police force. Undercover cop cars. There are cops in normal cars all over the city now, with the only indication of them being cops their uniforms and a blue and red flashing light on the passenger-side visor.

Yep, that's right; no all-white cars, no yellow license plates, no all-Caprices or Crown Victorias.

What really has me worried is that if this works well, by the time i'm driving, there'll be no school morning speed antics. ***t.

Is anyone else in the States [or even anywhere else] seeing this annoying trend?

 

[Taowulf]

Originally posted by Giancarlo
Recently, a new "trend" has been arising with the Miami Police force. Undercover cop cars. There are cops in normal cars all over the city now, with the only indication of them being cops their uniforms and a blue and red flashing light on the passenger-side visor.

Yep, that's right; no all-white cars, no yellow license plates, no all-Caprices or Crown Victorias.

What really has me worried is that if this works well, by the time i'm driving, there'll be no school morning speed antics. ***t.

Is anyone else in the States [or even anywhere else] seeing this annoying trend?

Yep, cops are using unmarked cars (not really considered "undercover") to catch drivers that are habitual speeders and "road ragers". Here in Washington State, the Washington State Patrol has everything from the average unmarked Interceptor Crown Vics to Chevy Malibus, Tahoes, A Volvo sedan and so on. Local PD's have tended to stick to unmarkered Crown Victorias.

P.S. Here is a link to a press release about the WSP's ADAT program. It is in pdf format and the stats showing how the ADAT program officers have done as far as catching not only speeders, but more importantly Drunk Drivers, people possesing narcotics and with warrants over what normal troopers accomplish is interesting.

http://www.wsp.wa.gov/newsfaqs/releases/nr030504.pdf

 

[milefile]

Yeah. Every time I pick up a hooker I have to prove I'm not undercover. What a pain.

 

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by milefile
Yeah. Every time I pick up a hooker I have to prove I'm not undercover. What a pain.

Thanks.

When i say "undercover" i mean that they are not visible from 2 miles off.

 

[Famine]

They've been used in the UK for at least 10 years now - unmarked police cars with video cameras on-board. Don't do anything illegal and you've nothing to worry about.

They tend to be the same types of cars in the UK - Vauxhall Omega, Vectra, Ford Mondeo and the like. They have blue lights and a siren ("Blues & Twos") behind the front radiator grille, which are effectively invisible (unless the sun is low in front of you, in which case you can see it reflecting off the lights - score Famine!), and a "Police" LED which pops up in the back window.

 

[CDailey]

Yeah, it's beginning to be like that up here in Jacksonville.

 

[eightfivezero]

In Germany it's also normal that there are loads of unmarked police cars. Mostly German cars (Audi RS4 etc.) and always two ugly really everything else than rich looking men who are watching you and won't take their eyes off you. After getting pulled by them like five or six times you get the idea.

 

[miata13B]

In Orlando there are two import tuner cars rolling around the UCF area, one is an integra from '96 and the other is an Accord I believe a '94. Also, when I worked at Volkswagen, the Orange County Sheriffs department purchased five cars from us. Two Jetta Wolfsburg editions, one Passat V6 and Two GTIs, both VR6s. None of them were white either.

 

[emad]

we've got tons of impalas and cv's up here except the badges and logos are printed on the side of the car. The only problem is that the car will be either jet black, white or navy blue and will have the logos printed in a slightly darker or lighter color. It's completely impossible to tell when it's behind you and when you're behind it, the only thing to give it away is the model of the car and the extra antenna in the middle.

 

[Crayola]

For some reason a year or two ago the NSW (Sydney) Police decided it would be a good idea to purchase an Impreza WRX after another WRX got away from them in a chase. To bad they didnt realise that this car was obviously tuned and such. Since then they've seen the error of their ways and gone back to the V8s. Oh yeh, this is only the Highway Patrol Units and they have like 350hp. The regular cop cars are just regular family V6 sedans.

 

[Famine]

Northamptonshire police, in the UK, have a Ferrari 360 Modena as a motorway pursuit car.

I kid you not.

 

[Crayola]

That, right there is cool. Remind me of the old Need For Speed game where, if you could get away from the BMWs for long enough a Lambourghini (sp?) would chase you.
I wonder what they have on the auto-bahns in Germany?

 

[Jpec07]

I don't get what's so annoying about undercover cops. I mean, they're there to keep us all safe, right?

Also, here's a couple more giveaways that the car is actually a coop car;
1. They have a black bumper-thingy on the front (battering ram is what I've been told it is). This is not legal for any car that is not a police car to have (I don't believe).
2. They tend to have about 50 more antenae than any other car, which makes them stand out a good deal.
3. They tend to be dark-colored.
4. Their lisence plates are state-sponsored.

Aside from those, they are undetectable by the human eye...

 

[The359]

I too don't see the problem with unmarked cars, or why them cutting down on speed antics around a high school is bad...

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Originally posted by emad
the only thing to give it away is the model of the car and the extra antenna in the middle.

Not true eMad. If you look at the rims of any of the unmarked cars in your area, they will ALL be black. They pull the stocks hubs or rims off and change them with black ones. It has to do with some law that states that the unmarked cars do have to be distinguishable from regular cars. I have a friend who is a police officer and he tried to explain it to me once. Whenever I think a car might be undercover the first thing I always do is look at the rims it is rolling on.

 

[The359]

I also believe that some of the current generation Police Special Crown Vics have a black grill instead of the chrome grill on street cars.

Also, learn the subtle differences between a Crown Victoria and a Grand Marquis. Cops using Grand Marquis are extremely rare, so if you see one of those, you're safe.

 

[skip0110]

Originally posted by Jpec07
I don't get what's so annoying about undercover cops. I mean, they're there to keep us all safe, right?

Also, here's a couple more giveaways that the car is actually a coop car;
1. They have a black bumper-thingy on the front (battering ram is what I've been told it is). This is not legal for any car that is not a police car to have (I don't believe).
2. They tend to have about 50 more antenae than any other car, which makes them stand out a good deal.
3. They tend to be dark-colored.
4. Their lisence plates are state-sponsored.

Aside from those, they are undetectable by the human eye...

Any car can have a push bar (or battering ram, although I think the correct word is push bar). In Mass, I have heard of people being pulled over for having more than 4 antennae. Also, some undercovers dont have the police plates.

Stupidest undercover cop car I ever saw was a white Astro, even an Accord V6 was pulling away form him in a highway chase. I hung behind him for a couple exits, I dont think that guy got caught.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Here in SoCal, the CHP used either Camaro, or Mustang pursuit cars. They also have three Lamborghini's, but they are most often used for presentations at schools, auto shows, racing events, etc...

Now that the Camaro is not made anymore, I only see Mustangs, and an occasional Hummer2. There are Ford F-150s, too. The majority of the CHP cars are Crown Victorias.

 

[a917fan]

I have an ex-detective car. It's a 95 Caprice Classic in a dark green. It still has the mounting brackets in the left rear window for the lights and a toggle switch with a 12 gauge wire going to the headlights. It isn't connected. When I'm wearing my aviator style sunglasses I get looks from everyone. Makes me feel special.

 

[WAREAGLE]

here in gulf breeze florida the cops have ****in lt1 camaros

 

[Crayola]

Originally posted by Rumple Foreskin
Not true eMad. If you look at the rims of any of the unmarked cars in your area, they will ALL be black. They pull the stocks hubs or rims off and change them with black ones. It has to do with some law that states that the unmarked cars do have to be distinguishable from regular cars. I have a friend who is a police officer and he tried to explain it to me once. Whenever I think a car might be undercover the first thing I always do is look at the rims it is rolling on.

In australia they take of the hub-caps and leave these dodgy looking wheels underneath. But thats not a police only thing.

 

[skylineGTR_guy]

Surprise now had a grey F350,white impala, black mustang GT, grey crown vic, gray ford taurus then theres the sherrifs office who has the standard crown vics and expeditions.

I'm usually pretty good at spotting cops very early, having a radar detector doesn't hurt either but i find that arround my house not alot of cops use radar, i mean hell i was going 40 in a 25 zone and went right past a cop who came in the opposite direction around a blind curve adn the only way he would have know I was speeding was if I hit the brakes and he saw my bumper dip but I just kept on crusining by.

Then thing that bugs me is those people who drive crown vics that have that little spotlight thing forcing me to slow down untill I can verify if they are a cop or not...

I also hate when people think its a crime to accelerate when they are next to a cop....they freaking wont pass him no matter how slow he goes, I don't care if there is a cop, just becasue hes there doesn't mean I can't accelerate over 2000 RPM jeeze people. I accelerate like I always do and go straight up to 5 over the limit.

One good thing about cops are that they always speed, so I get behind em and follow. I mean they are doing like 60 in a 45 zone withought their siren on so if they do it so do I. I just keeps back and go just as fast as he does, He isn't going to hassle me for breaking a law he is already breaking... I do it all the time and no one has pulled me over yet.

 

[Taowulf]

Originally posted by Jpec07
I don't get what's so annoying about undercover cops. I mean, they're there to keep us all safe, right?

Also, here's a couple more giveaways that the car is actually a coop car;
1. They have a black bumper-thingy on the front (battering ram is what I've been told it is). This is not legal for any car that is not a police car to have (I don't believe).
2. They tend to have about 50 more antenae than any other car, which makes them stand out a good deal.
3. They tend to be dark-colored.
4. Their lisence plates are state-sponsored.

Aside from those, they are undetectable by the human eye...

I don't get upset about them at all. I know they are not after me.

Not all unmarked cars have the push bars. Since I already mentioned the WSP, I will refer to them again. They have push bars on the Crown Vics, their Ford Excursions and some of the Tahoes, but on the ADAT cars, there are little to no distinguishing marks. The license plates no longer use the diamond E for exempt, all WSP cars have regular looking plates that have three numbers followed by WSP, so from a distance, they look like normal passenger cars. The Volvo I mentioned was white, the Malibus I have seen are silver and some of the lower visibilty (not ADAT) cars are burgundy with black markings. They are very difficult to make out from a distance. As far as the antennae thing, they are even using low mount or lower visibility antennae on lots of the cars. Again, the ADAT cars have no visible antennae other than the stock one.

 

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by The359
I too don't see the problem with unmarked cars, or why them cutting down on speed antics around a high school is bad...

Not around the high school, on the way there. There's a 4-lane road most kids take to get there, and it's fun to swerve around traffic a bit and speed around.

I'm not saying i will speed all the time, but i'm gonna do it. I'm a car enthusiast, and a car i work hard to pay for, i refuse to use just to wait behind sedans from 1985 that are going 27 miles an hour in a 40.

 

[sUn]

We've had them here for as long as I can remember there black Impala's, with no hub's, a cage in the back, and that's all. It's pretty neat when all ofa sudden there lights go on and they speed by you.

 

[skip0110]

Originally posted by sUn
It's pretty neat when all ofa sudden there lights go on and they speed by you.

It's only cool when they speed past you. Otherwise it sucks. Hard.

Worse than the undercovers, are the damnable motorcycle cops. They are hard to spot. I ran a stop sign (well, rolled thorugh it at like 2 mph, it was in my neighborhood) right in front of one. Like he was sitting right there.

 

[skylineGTR_guy]

Originally posted by skip0110
It's only cool when they speed past you. Otherwise it sucks. Hard.

Worse than the undercovers, are the damnable motorcycle cops. They are hard to spot. I ran a stop sign (well, rolled thorugh it at like 2 mph, it was in my neighborhood) right in front of one. Like he was sitting right there.

There are soooo many times I swear I was dead. 1 am, cruise controll on at about 65 mph in a 45 zone. Light turns yellow, I'm too lazy to hit the brakes light turns red, I blast through the intersection at 20 over on a full red right in front of a sherriff's squad car, The 4 letter words were flying out of my mouth, trying to think of excuses already or even taking a right into the neighborhood and making a run for it. I looked in the rear view mirror waiting for the dreaded red and blue but it never came.... Either he wasn't paying attention, or didn't want to do the paperwork.

Also the countless times (before I got my radar detector) I swear the radar had me pegged but the lights never came.

Then there are the times the lights did come. So far I've been lucky, I got pulled over by the black mustang GT, notorious for his unforgiving nature, giving tickets for even the smallest infraction. Yet that night luck was on my side, you see my brother is part of a Jr police officer thing, and a few days before I stopped by to pick him up at the police car wash, at that car wash, unknown to me was the cop who drove the GT. When he walked up he recognised me and after a short conversation told me that normally he would give a ticket for my violation, he had done it hundreds of times, but he let me go.

I'm screwed when I get the GTR

 

[The359]

Originally posted by Giancarlo
Not around the high school, on the way there. There's a 4-lane road most kids take to get there, and it's fun to swerve around traffic a bit and speed around.

I'm not saying i will speed all the time, but i'm gonna do it. I'm a car enthusiast, and a car i work hard to pay for, i refuse to use just to wait behind sedans from 1985 that are going 27 miles an hour in a 40.

Are you saying that just because you're a car enthusiast, you have the right to drive like a moron?

I hope you get pulled over

 

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by The359
Are you saying that just because you're a car enthusiast, you have the right to drive like a moron?

I hope you get pulled over

I can't really explain it well. I like fast is the only way i can simplify it.

But oh well, that's your opnion.

Of course i'll get pulled over. Everyone does. Even my brother in-law, who had never gotten a ticket in his life, got one for turning where you weren't supposed to (it was at the end of the year, of course.. ).

 

[milefile]

As GTR Guy has pointed out, here in the Phoenix area the cops are pretty lax. I got pulled over on the interstate around six years ago but not since then. But then I don't excessively speed or otherwise drive like an ass.