Arkansas State Police has a few dozen "low profile" semi-marked units. They're in normal factory colors, and only marked on the passenger side, so if they're driving in the right lane on the highway or sitting on the right shoulder, they're functionally unmarked.

quote:

Originally posted by KMitch200:
By that damned roundabout? I hate that thing!

We are a little more than two miles past the roundabout (if you mean the one with the spurs in the middle). The two roundabouts in town are worse. They banked them ever so slightly lower on the outside of the circle. Tractor trailers and other tall trucks flip on their side regularly when they go too fast around the circle. The one out 93 was constructed much better, but folks in a hurry to get to Vegas don't appreciate its being there at all.
 

quote:

Originally posted by john1:
I've been in slick-top unmarked units for 11 or 12 years. Durangos, Tahoes and now a Ford F-150.

I guess I miss the part about it somehow being "unfair"...I have a big push bar, two antennas and government plates, but DON'T DRIVE LIKE A DICKHEAD and we won't be visiting...

On the way home from the jail today I wrote two speeding tickets (15 and 16 over), two warnings for speed (14 over) and another speed warning but a cite for "Open Container Marijuana".

Hopefully the red and blue lights on a pickup put the other Friday-night-to-the-mountains-for-the-weekend drivers in a slower frame of mind.

I guess I missed the whole part about revenue generation in the academy.

Whether it's taught in the academy or not doesn't matter. When you pull someone over for driving 60 or 70 on an interstate (no matter what the speed limit is) - you're just taking money like the tax collector. There is no other reason for it. 70 or 75 (and likely even 80 or 85) is a safe speed on most interstates.

Driving aggressive - fine, pull 'em over. But simply driving at a safe speed that happens to be a little higher than Jimmy Carter likes during the oil embargo - B.S.

They have a darked out grey charger with the blended in logo for a small city by me, had to do a double take, yep, lights in the back, ghost PoPo logo on the side...

The Highway Patrol around here has a couple of the low profile cars now and I don't like them.

I'm not much of a speeder anymore (but do routinely go 5 over) so it's not really an issue for me, but something about it just rubs me the wrong way. It seems that it's nothing more than a moving speed trap.

quote:

Whether it's taught in the academy or not doesn't matter. When you pull someone over for driving 60 or 70 on an interstate (no matter what the speed limit is) - you're just taking money like the tax collector. There is no other reason for it. 70 or 75 (and likely even 80 or 85) is a safe speed on most interstates.

Driving aggressive - fine, pull 'em over. But simply driving at a safe speed that happens to be a little higher than Jimmy Carter likes during the oil embargo - B.S.

I didn't say anything about an interstate. U.S. Hwy 285 is a two-lane mountain highway with a posted speed limit of 65 in the area I drive to and from the Sheriff's Office.

Why is it that a number of posters on all the traffic ticket related threads make the assumption that every stop is a ticket? The five stops I mentioned were two speed cites, one MJ cite ($50.00 plus a $7.50 surcharge, and he got a verbal warning for 78/65), and the other two were verbal warnings as well.

If every stop looks like a citation and the passing motorists take the hint, then traffic safety has occurred.

I acknowledge that there are agencies who are revenue-generation-oriented. Front Range Coloradans all all pretty aware of the BS on 285 in Morrison, but I do go 45 going through there, myself.

Tonight on the way home I heard two other deputies give warnings for a bad pass and then speed in a school zone (which carries a double penalty, by the way). I guess they missed the revenue generation class also. I wrote one this morning for 83/65 and that was after turning on her (no lights yet) and hit "Front/Same" and she was then doing 83. Any thought of a warning changed.

Go do a ride along and see how it works, then you might have more than anecdotal stories and assumptions.

Noticed a stealth cruiser with our local city PD the other day as well. White, low sheen graphics on white vehicle. Barely visible unless you are looking on an angle.

quote:

Originally posted by pessimist:

quote:

Originally posted by xwesler:
I can't speak for all jurisdictions, but I know in some places unmarked vehicles can't pull you over. These stealth vehicles seem to straddle that middle ground, they're much more subtle but still "marked".

I actually have a problem with these units for that very reason. In my area, unmarked vehicles are not supposed to pull you over yet they’re doing it with these vehicles. They’re clearly breaking the spirit of the law. When you’re charged with enforcing the law, that sends a bad signal.

Little piece of trivia: decades ago, the NHL began requiring that player’s names be on the back of jerseys. Teams resisted and pulled the same shit as above; names stitched on in the same color as the background in order to make it difficult to discern. That lasted about one game

So no different than slapping a SIG brace on an AR pistol then?

I love ghost decal cars.

And surprisingly enough, they show up a little better than you expect.

"Spirit of the law". What are we doing, playing croquet? In 40+ years of driving I've never gotten a ticket or warning I didn't deserve, and I deserved quite a few.

FLPD has some white/gray ones on the street.

My local PD has those cars. Apparently they're wrapped/dipped and the paneling that goes over the door can be taken on and off fairly easily. They say when they sell the car (or turn them back in after the lease, I didn't quite hear) it comes right off and the factory paint job is supposed to be in really good condition. I asked why they make it so hard to identify the vehicle as a cruiser and I was given some line about how this is safer, only cover option that's approved because of reflective decals, blah blah blah. We had black/white two tone Chargers with LED headliners and they've all gone to this. They are harder to spot if you can't recognize the annoying LED headlight bars that all new cars have as standard equipment these days but that's a conversation saved for Whats the Deal for another day...