I see these occasionally, mostly marked as "DWI Enforcement" vehicles.
What's the idea behind a fully marked, lightbar-less police car?
I see these occasionally, mostly marked as "DWI Enforcement" vehicles.
What's the idea behind a fully marked, lightbar-less police car?
Nobody is impressed by what you can't do. -THJ
Harder to spot at distance. Downside, may not be believed to be the real police at night.
Less visibility to the wily, elusive bad driver. The roof mounted light bar is quite prominent to those looking for it. The sleeker, low-profile light bars of today are much lees prominent, but still easy to spot when you know what to look for.
Back in the days of short-range K-band Doppler radar, every time I drove a "slick-top" unit I nabbed quite a few more speeders and stop sign runners, especially on two lane "back roads" (defined as not the interstate).
Same principle behind DWI units; at night, the roof light bar outline is quite visible in reflected light in one's rear-view mirror. Not that it matters that much in DWI enforcement; by the time Officer Friendly is close enough for you to spot him, if he's any good he's already zeroed in on your vehicle.
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Several reasons, some surprising.
First, lightbars generate wind noise. I've driven both slicktops and lightbar topped cars and will pick a slicktop every day.
Slicktops tend to be better enforcement vehicles as people realize you are the police a lot later. My current vehicle is a slicktop Ford Pursuit Utility (looks like an Explorer) and I can write as many tickets as I want.
On the practical side, slicktop cars get better gas mileage than cars with lightbars. This means that slicktops are cheaper to operate.
In the surprising department, slicktops are safer for officers as slicktops are struck when parked less often than vehicles with lightbars. The thinking is that the height of the lightbar makes the car look further away than lower mounted lights. This means that people slow down sooner.
The only downside I've seen to.slicktops is that they are more expensive to set up well. A slicktop can be lit as well as a lightbar equipped car but it requires a bit more thought and money.
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- It's not the odds, it's the stakes.
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Ooops
- It's not the odds, it's the stakes.
- If you aren't dry practicing every week, you're not serious.....
- "Tache-Psyche Effect - a polite way of saying 'You suck.' " - GG
I drive a fully marked Chevy Tahoe that's slick topped. It surprising how many people pass me at speed on the freeway.
Just a dog chauffeur that used to hold the dumb end of the leash.
Interesting. Thanks, guys!
Nobody is impressed by what you can't do. -THJ
All of our Traffic and DWI slick cars were paid for with federal grant money, and by fed rules they can only be used for traffic enforcement. I think the traffic guys are just happy to have a car that can't be used by torn up by patrol.
I admire the utility of slick tops, but when I first moved to Kansas City the KCK cops drove pandas with a single big red revolver like this one:
While they looked like clown cars in the day I can tell you from experience that when they hit those behind you at night it got your attention.
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KHP has a few of these running around for their 75th anniversary. Brings back memories of when my dad worked for them.
“If you know the way broadly you will see it in everything." - Miyamoto Musashi
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