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Thread: Ghost lettering and/or minimally marked vehicles for traffic stops

  1. #21
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    In my experience, I was much more successful in finding meth and thieves at night with the black/ghosted slick top than I have been with my “new” reflective striped crown Vic. Observation of known drug locations was a lot easier too.

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by littlejerry View Post
    If an unmarked Mustang or white DOT truck tried to pull me over... I wouldn't. Would you pull over for an ice cream truck? A UPS truck? Would you want your wife or daughter to? At some point you cross a line. For me that line is clear markings on the vehicle and recognizable uniforms.
    They are in uniform. State law says one or the other to write tickets, marked car or uniform. Non-traffic enforcement (ie a traffic stop but for a theft suspect) doesn't require either. Do whatever your big enough to get away with, but it's not caused a bunch of issues here. A vehicle with emergency lights and sirens? Yeah, I'd pull over. I'm not scared of an impersonator if it turns out to be one.

    Yes, I'd want my wife to pull over for the ISP Mustangs or F-150s as I'd rather she not go to jail for felony fleeing or get a ticket for failure to yield. Again, the answer might be different in different circumstances. I'm not real worried about impersonators working rush hour traffic for some nefarious reason.
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  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by fwrun View Post
    In my experience, I was much more successful in finding meth and thieves at night with the black/ghosted slick top than I have been with my “new” reflective striped crown Vic. Observation of known drug locations was a lot easier too.
    When we first merged with the sheriff's dept we went to gray cars with a black stripe package so we wouldn't have city white or county brown with the "new" department. Guys loved them for alley creeping. They lasted a few years, then we went back to white and a much simpler gold stripe package because $$$.
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  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's View Post
    Impersonators aren't pulling people over during rush hour or in construction zones. At night in a more rural area? Different considerations.
    Quote Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's View Post
    I'm not real worried about impersonators working rush hour traffic for some nefarious reason.
    Why the focus in your commentary on rush hour traffic?

    Impersonators don't only operate in rural areas at night. Impersonators have been impersonating LEOs in broad daylight. Just because it doesn't happen in rush hour traffic....or better put, hasn't happened in your area......doesn't mean that it has not happened in the US or will not happen in your area. It's certainly happened in other areas of the country, so I don't see how, "yeah but it hasn't happened here" is a reasoned response to an obviously bad idea with known consequences.
    Last edited by TGS; 09-02-2018 at 01:04 AM.
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  5. #25
    Wow, who would have ever thought there would be so much discussion on unmarked and/or ghost stripped vehicles.

    I have driven marked vehicles, motors, and now an unmarked vehicle. We have a ghost vehicle in the budget and I hope it’s mine. In N.C., it doesn’t matter if an unmarked or marked vehicle is behind you...you need to pull over. Worried about a BL bandit? Call 911, turn on your hazard lights, and slow down until you get to where you “feel” safe .

    While attending a class in Georgia I was driving my unmarked and one of the guys from Georgia asked why I had a radar. I told him to write tickets! LOL. He told me that in Georgia local municipalities couldn’t stop anyone on an unmarked vehicle unless it was a serious felony...otherwise the had to get a marked unit to stop a car. However, he stated that GSP could have unmarked...? I couldn’t understand why a state agency could and a local agency couldn’t...politics?

    Whatever. If you really do not want to be seen jump onto a motor. Emergency Lights on with siren blaring they will not see you. Drivers do not see motor cops...they just assume it’s a regular motorcycle.

    Unmarked/ghost stripped vehicles have their uses. I’d rather have a ghost graphics car than an unmarked simply because at night it can be seen better. As has been stated most people don’t pay enough attention to notice if you’re marked...but an unmarked cruiser grabs almost no attention... especially from violators who are looking for a glimmer of sun reflecting from a bar light or a reflection from stripping at night, etc.
    Last edited by KeeFus; 09-02-2018 at 05:42 AM.

  6. #26
    Site Supporter Hambo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Beat Trash View Post
    the marked vehicle helps to prevent other drivers from hitting your vehicle and/or you.
    Only if they're sober and paying attention, which are rare conditions these days.

    One city here has ghost marked units for the traffic unit, but they seem to work only as a unit, meaning 4-5 cars, and they favor a few speed trap areas. On main thoroughfares traffic moves at 10-20mph over the posted limits with impunity. The SO traffic/DUI cars are marked, and I see them make a lot more stops. This might have nothing to do with markings and everything to do with the ambition, or lack of it, of the officers/deputies.
    "Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA

  7. #27
    Modding this sack of shit BehindBlueI's's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TGS View Post
    Why the focus in your commentary on rush hour traffic?
    Because that's where the ISP Mustangs that I was referencing are used. Day time traffic enforcement. DOT trucks, construction zones. They don't use the unmarked at night.

    Quote Originally Posted by TGS View Post
    Impersonators don't only operate in rural areas at night. Impersonators have been impersonating LEOs in broad daylight. Just because it doesn't happen in rush hour traffic....or better put, hasn't happened in your area......doesn't mean that it has not happened in the US or will not happen in your area. It's certainly happened in other areas of the country, so I don't see how, "yeah but it hasn't happened here" is a reasoned response to an obviously bad idea with known consequences.
    Oh we've had impersonators. Some people have even been robbers. None of them were driving a Mustang, pickup truck, etc. They were in Crown Vics or SUVs made to look like police vehicles. More often then not they had some BS "uniform" on as well. Security guards and volunteer firefighters seem to be drawn to it more often then other professions, for some reason. However that's the element being missed here. You want to play odds/stakes then get actual data on which is more likely to be the impersonator...and it's one that looks mostly like a "cop car" for the area.

    Local impersonators:

    The woman says she stopped after what looked like a police car came up behind her with lights and sirens on.

    The driver was wearing a campaign hat but took it off before getting out to talk to her.

    She says she felt even more uneasy when she noticed his belt only had a holster on it and the pistol looked fake.

    His badge also just said "sheriff" and he didn't give his name, asking her instead, "Do you know what you did wrong?"

    The woman took off when the man told her to get out of the car for refusing to hand over her ID.
    And this genius who showed up at a police funeral for one of my department's fallen offices and claimed to be with our department:

    In police uniform, with a badge and a duty belt with firearms holstered, Nguyen...a black 2012 Dodge Charger equipped with a siren, flashing lights and a two-way radio
    And these guys (along with another that's now defunct) doing traffic stops, etc.



    So, yeah. I'm not worried about the Mustangs, F-150s, etc. and in the 20 years of their use (June of 1988 was when the Mustang program started) I know of zero issues related to the program and it's been successful enough for multiple changes in brass and political leadership to keep it going. I also understand that realistically I'm not going to get out and examine the markings on the door and the black/white Crown Vic is more likely to be an impersonator than someone buying an ice cream truck and putting lights on it. Oh, and for those passing through Indiana, Conservation officers have green and black trucks and SUVs and they are real cops who can really pull you over, write tickets, arrest, etc.
    Last edited by BehindBlueI's; 09-02-2018 at 08:24 AM. Reason: clarification
    Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.

  8. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by KeeFus View Post
    Wow, who would have ever thought there would be so much discussion on unmarked and/or ghost stripped vehicles.

    I have driven marked vehicles, motors, and now an unmarked vehicle. We have a ghost vehicle in the budget and I hope it’s mine. In N.C., it doesn’t matter if an unmarked or marked vehicle is behind you...you need to pull over. Worried about a BL bandit? Call 911, turn on your hazard lights, and slow down until you get to where you “feel” safe .

    While attending a class in Georgia I was driving my unmarked and one of the guys from Georgia asked why I had a radar. I told him to write tickets! LOL. He told me that in Georgia local municipalities couldn’t stop anyone on an unmarked vehicle unless it was a serious felony...otherwise the had to get a marked unit to stop a car. However, he stated that GSP could have unmarked...? I couldn’t understand why a state agency could and a local agency couldn’t...politics?

    Whatever. If you really do not want to be seen jump onto a motor. Emergency Lights on with siren blaring they will not see you. Drivers do not see motor cops...they just assume it’s a regular motorcycle.

    Unmarked/ghost stripped vehicles have their uses. I’d rather have a ghost graphics car than an unmarked simply because at night it can be seen better. As has been stated most people don’t pay enough attention to notice if you’re marked...but an unmarked cruiser grabs almost no attention... especially from violators who are looking for a glimmer of sun reflecting from a bar light or a reflection from stripping at night, etc.
    GSP has to be marked for traffic. The same code referenced in the OP has specific sections which dictate how GSP has to be marked.

    Any motor vehicle, except as hereinafter provided in this subsection, used by any employee of the Georgia State Patrol for the purpose of enforcing the traffic laws of this state shall be distinctly painted, marked, and equipped in such manner as shall be prescribed by the commissioner of public safety pursuant to this Code section.
    The above is just a small portion.


    As others have noted, some folks are oblivious enough to not pay attention if you’ve got a billboard telling them the po-po are right there in a bright neon car.

    I get unmarked has its uses, but for a plain ole traffic stop it seems unnecessary.

    Columbus, GA PD pissed off the locals recently by dressing up officers as “construction crew” and standing at the corner of a busy intersection and radioing the marked units to grab distracted drivers.

    More than one way to skin a cat and all.
    “Conspiracy theories are just spoiler alerts these days.”

  9. #29
    It’s been over 8 years since I’ve had a marked car or worn a uniform. I’ve stopped many cars in my unmarked wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt, but we wear our raid vests. Normally, if we’re stoping someone, its for an interdiction or pre-textual stop, and all the bad guys know what’s up when the bearded-police are stopping them.

    For us to do a “normal” traffic stop, it would have to be for something pretty serious, but I’ve never had anyone not stop for me (because they thought I was an impersonator) or question who I was during the stop.

  10. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by KeeFus View Post
    While attending a class in Georgia I was driving my unmarked and one of the guys from Georgia asked why I had a radar. I told him to write tickets! LOL. He told me that in Georgia local municipalities couldn’t stop anyone on an unmarked vehicle unless it was a serious felony...otherwise the had to get a marked unit to stop a car. However, he stated that GSP could have unmarked...? I couldn’t understand why a state agency could and a local agency couldn’t...politics?
    That officer didn't understand the law. There is absolutely nothing in GA giving the GSP the authority to make stops in an unmarked car but not municipalities. The applicable code section is published in the OP.

    The only difference is this:

    https://thatweemsguy.com/2010/09/20/...eed-detection/
    I had an ER nurse in a class. I noticed she kept taking all head shots. Her response when asked why, "'I've seen too many people who have been shot in the chest putting up a fight in the ER." Point taken.

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