Ghost lettering and/or minimally marked vehicles for traffic stops

[BehindBlueI's]

Huh. Didn’t know that was a thing. No bueno here. Dont know any agencies that allow that or even if it’s legal.

It's legal here, there's no requirement for an emergency vehicle to be gov't owned. I don't know anyone other than a reserves-only department where anyone has bought a car for their "on duty" ride. Special deputies and reserves often buy a CVPI and dress it up to do construction zone details, etc. Most are just flashing rear reds/yellows, which aren't controlled here. No forward facing flashers other than white, no rear flashers other than red/yellow and there's nothing special required. Forward facing red is reserved for emergency vehicles, blue can also be used by volunteer firefighters in their personal cars, and green for volunteer EMTs in their personal vehicles. Why we need to distinguish between EMTs and FFs to that level, I've no idea.

Funeral escorts used to be able to use blue/red, but that was changed awhile back. I forget what they are limited to now.

Oh, and we have take homes. I can pay a set fee and use the car for off duty if I want. I don't, because I don't work any part time and I don't use my car for personal use off duty. I'd rather buy my gas then deal with non-emergency police stuff off duty or put my family in a marked car.

[Lon]

Learn something every day.

I know volunteer firefighters in Oh can put lights in their vehicles. I did when I was one years ago. But couldn’t find anything about LE doing it.

[Coyotesfan97]

Arizona just changed our Unlawful flight law to include unmarked cars with a couple stipulations. Our traffic guys have low profile Tahoe’s with semi ghost lettering. It’s reflective.

28-622.01. Unlawful flight from pursuing law enforcement vehicle; violation; classification; marked and unmarked vehicles

A driver of a motor vehicle who wilfully flees or attempts to elude a pursuing official law enforcement vehicle is guilty of a class 5 felony if the law enforcement vehicle is either:

1. Being operated in the manner described in section 28-624, subsection C and is appropriately marked to show that it is an official law enforcement vehicle.

2. Unmarked and either of the following applies:

(a) The driver admits to knowing that the vehicle was an official law enforcement vehicle.

(b) Evidence shows that the driver knew that the vehicle was an official law enforcement vehicle.

[mark7]

Out of curiousity since you’re on mids - is the stealth lettering reflective?

Yes, every inch reflective. Black on black, add light: bright gold lettering/striping.

[ragnar_d]

Most FL LEOs don't even drive their own car to work. Take home cars are the thing down here.

Yup. There's cars for 3-4 different agencies parked in my neighborhood right now, was the same thing when I lived in Orange County FL.

The non standard vehicles you are referring to are most likely the officers personal vehicles which they have equipped with lights and magnetic stick on “Police” markings specifically for working off duty jobs like road construction.

I can’t speak to Florida but it’s common here in TX.

I've never seen an FHP Trooper in anything but a very fleet looking Charger/CVPI/Explorer/Tahoe. The local guys, who knows. There is either a local officer or off duty MDPD directing traffic outside an ATT depot on one street I drive on a somewhat regular basis going to work. Dude was always in a mid 2000's Camry or a late model GMC Terrain with a flip down visor red/blue and led flashers in the headlights/taillights. Guess that might be the case that it's his POV since I doubt many local PDs have a 12 year old base Camry in their fleet, but who knows.

Funeral escorts used to be able to use blue/red, but that was changed awhile back. I forget what they are limited to now.

Funeral escorts down here seem to be private security companies with amber/green flashers that, save for being amber/green instead of red/blue, could damn near be confused for legit LEO rigs (down to the motor "officers"). Seemed weird to me, but my Midwestern sensibilities and reckonings haven't quite yet adapted to these parts.

[John Hearne]

It depends on what you're trying to do. If you think the cops are white knights who need a matching steed and bad guys are utterly stupid but basically honest then expecting uniform LE to work out of marked cars with light bars on top is probably reasonable. If you accept the fact that some subterfuge may be necessary to catch bad guys (and just plain idiots) then something other than a marked car with light bar on top is probably necessary.

This isn't the 1980's when you can expect someone with a "Kojak" light on the dash to appear to be a legit cop. The state of emergency lighting is such that a vehicle can have a very effective, and clearly discernible set of lights without them being externally visible. We're not talking about one or two flashing lights but an entire package that is just as effective as a rooftop bar. A "slick top" car is marked normally but the lights are inside the vehicle. These vehicles tend to be better at traffic enforcement depending on how unique their color(s) are. Besides being better at traffic enforcement, slick tops are actually safer (lower accident rate) than vehicles with roof top lightbars and get better gas mileage.

Whether we like it or not, certain problems can't be solved by marked patrol cars. There's pretty clear indications from NHTSA that unmarked cars are the preferred tool for dealing with reckless and distracted driving. My work is about 80% traffic related. We'd receive repeated complaints of reckless driving in a particular area and we'd increase patrol (with marked cars and light bars) in the area. We never found anyone driving reckless for some reason. Our supervisors drive unmarked cars. Not super stealthy with well hidden lights but basically slick tops without markings. When we transferred a supervisor's car to my area with the intentions of marking it (and it takes months to get decals) that officer who drove that vehicle worked traffic in an unmarked Tahoe. All of a sudden, this guy was writing a lot of tickets for reckless speeds, following too closely, failing to maintain lane, etc. I ran the stats and the increase in reckless and distracted driving increased by hundreds of percent.

Based on this, we've started to roll out dedicated unmarked vehicles for traffic enforcement. The most recent acquisition is a Dodge police package pickup. The lights are hidden and it has a non-government tag, it even has a big LED off-road light on the front - with red and blue LEDs. If it's not being used by the person to whom its assigned, anyone can use it and work traffic enforcement. I've run this truck and I can say with 100% certainty that I made enforcement contacts that I would not have made in any other vehicle. Those people who you yell at "that guy needs a ticket or that guy needs to go to jail" those are the unsafe, rude, reckless people that you snag in unmarked vehicles.

As mitigation, when the lights come on, the pickup is clearly an emergency vehicle - internal lightbar, LEDs on mirrors, four LEDs in the off-road lights, intersection lights, flashing headlights, etc. The back is marked equally well with a full interior lightbar, traffic advisor, etc. We do require that the officer using the vehicle be in uniform.

The sad reality is that bad/dangerous driving is the greatest source of danger for most of us. Crime tends to be focused in certain areas (not saying that you can't find its presence everywhere) but everyone gets killed and maimed in traffic crashes. Years of declines in traffic fatalities have stalled out (probably with the rise of the smart phones and distracted driving) and bicycle and pedestrian fatalities are increasing. Until we all have self-driving cars (the clear future) someone is going to have to make sure that the idiots and the reckless don't hurt/kill someone and unmarked vehicles have a clear place in that process.

[0331king]

I have a right to state my educated opinion, same as you. Did the perpetrator in the incident I cited drive a MARKED POLICE car?

SPOILER ALERT...he didn’t.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here’s the problem with that article....... It’s wrong.

Decoursey was not a police impersonator. He was a wanted felon who had installed some ratty blue lights to help him run from the police if the need ever arose.

He didn’t pull Phillip over. The POS install shorted out and the lights activated briefly and Phillip, who was off duty, just happened to see it.

He contacted the PD and kept eyes on the vehicle until a marked unit arrived. Together he and the on duty made contact although Phillip was unarmed. On duty makes contact with multiples in a vehicle. Phillip approaches Decoursey who is under a car hood jacking with the lights. Decoursey shoots Phillip and flees.

[msstate56]

Let’s just call it what it is- nobody wants to get a ticket, and some people think the police have to “play fair” with conspicuous vehicles so they get a “fair chance.” I drive an unmarked unit. I don’t do regular traffic enforcement, but I’ve had plenty of people blow past me at 40+ over the limit, nearly run me off the road illegally passing, tailgate me so close I could tell you what brand phone case they are currently holding, and drag race drunk. None of which they would do next to a marked unit. But I guess it wasn’t “fair” because my vehicle is unmarked.

[Jeff22]

This turned out to be a surprisingly contentious topic . . . . It's interesting how different law and custom are from state to state on different issues.

I've been the police since 1981. Generally speaking, around here, normal patrol units drive marked cars, the supervisors drive unmarked cars and the traffic unit drives unmarked cars.

At one place I work, the Chief doesn't like lightbars for some reason so the vehicles patrol has (two marked Chevy Tahoes and two unmarked Ford Interceptors) have the emergency lights mounted in the windshield. I personally would rather have lightbars on the marked cars, but I was not consulted on the matter.

[orionz06]

Let’s just call it what it is- nobody wants to get a ticket, and some people think the police have to “play fair” with conspicuous vehicles so they get a “fair chance.” I drive an unmarked unit. I don’t do regular traffic enforcement, but I’ve had plenty of people blow past me at 40+ over the limit, nearly run me off the road illegally passing, tailgate me so close I could tell you what brand phone case they are currently holding, and drag race drunk. None of which they would do next to a marked unit. But I guess it wasn’t “fair” because my vehicle is unmarked.

Are you basing that on the discussion you've seen here?