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  • NSADD Moderators: deficiT | Jen

Tips for spotting an unmarked cop car on North American roads

I have seen some foreign cars used as police cars, probably seized vehicles. Extremely rare though, I always look for American. I can spot a Crown Vic or Expedition from 100 miles away but they're getting trickier now with the Chargers and that new interceptor version of the SHO theyt've been using. That thing's scary as shit. I can ditch almost any crown vic I don't care who's driving it, I'm a pretty skilled driver plus I take chances and risk my life if need be whereas they're less likely to do so. But you bomb away from one of those just because you see lights flashing on the horizon, all of a sudden you have a 400hp twin-turbo AWD car up your ass, no getting away from that in a 280zx. You'd have to have a serious car to run from that. Your simple "I didn't feel like dealing with this bullshit stop sign ticket so I ran because I knew I'd obviously get away when he was that far back, all I have to do is take a left at speed then hammer some back roads" just turned into felony evasion. And probably a DUI. Damn.


Anywho, AFAIK in CT cop cars
-cannot have any damage such as broken windshields or burned out headlights, etc
-can not have any personalization such as bumper stickers, shit hanging in the window, decorative frames around the license plates, etc
-you can usually spot hidden lights in the window or grille
-the guy driving it looks like a cop...
-you can tell by the license plates. Not sure about the western part of the state, but I know for a fact that for state police Troop K (and a few others) have UTZ in their plates. Another one is WWL though I'm not sure which barracks they're based out of. You see a crown vic that you're not sure if it's a cop or not, if the license plate is ###-UTZ it definitely is. Not sure about the other barracks because there has to be more than 1000 cruisers in the state, but I'm sure they follow suit in their own right. IME the townies usually have a plate that references the town like East Hartford police will be something like EH-##.


I once got pulled over by a dodge intrepid though. That was some shit
 
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I worked at a Ford Dealership as a Tech and a lot of municipal police have the older generation Tauruses as unmarked police cars.
2008_Ford_Taurus_SEL_.jpg

Everything was internal for lighting and all the switches were inside the console so you couldn't see them. The antenna was internal and ran through the drip rail in the roof so you couldn't see it. The radio was in the glove box. Funny how I was working on crown vics a lot while I was jammed up. When I first started working there and I drove one for the first time. What is the first thing anybody wants to do while driving a cop car? Take a wild guess. You want to fuck around with the lights and siren. Well I got in huge trouble because apparently when you use the lights or siren it sends a message through the radio to the police station. FYI if you steal a cop car don't mess with the buttons.
 
ToNY_D said:
When I first started working there and I drove one for the first time. What is the first thing anybody wants to do while driving a cop car? Take a wild guess. You want to fuck around with the lights and siren. Well I got in huge trouble because apparently when you use the lights or siren it sends a message through the radio to the police station. FYI if you steal a cop car don't mess with the buttons.
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Lmao! I bolded the HR aspect of your post. Also I find it funny one of "us" behind the wheel of a cop car and not cuffed in the back seat lol.
 
A word of advice to some of you out there. If you are being pulled over by an unmarked police car, DO NOT pull over. Continue going, call the police and tell them there is unmarked vehicle trying to pull you over. It is illegal in many states and most places around the world for police to do this. The reason for this is that anyone can be in unmarked "police" car. It has never happened to me but a friend of mine got mugged from someone impersonating an officer. Even if it is legal in your state for police to pull you over in an unmarked car, call the police before you pull over anyway.
 
i look at license plates. if they are too few or too many i get supicious. also, i see tons of vermont and illinois plates. no other states really.

the one that freaks me out the most is seeing an american made car with VA plates. i saw a big black suv today with VA plates and the guy looked like a suit. i dont know.

there are also certain emblems on plates that signify the car is state police property.
 
Wolfmans_BrothEr said:
One big thing around me in NJ is 90% of cruisers marked or unmarked have MG as the first two letters on their license plate. I think it stands for municipal govt
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Yes, you are right, local New Jersey cops usually start with MG, and state police have SG, and county government has CG, but sometimes CG is at the end, not at the beginnning. However, this does not necessarily mean police. I have seen SG plates on cars associated with the state government, but not necessarily the state police. The same goes for CG, I have seen County snow plows and whatnot have CG plates.
 
homeydontplaythat said:
best thing to do is carry a bag of oregano with you and hang it from your rear view mirror. well, unless you live in CO or WA.
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I dunno about the rest of the country, but in New Jersey, hanging "dice" or fuzzy dice, or mardi gras beads or anything else from your mirror is technically illegal. Cops quote some state law about obstructing the view of the window. I think they also may use this law sometimes for tints that are too dark.

Don't hang things from your rear view mirror unless you welcome getting pulled over, at least in New jersey
 
No one mentioned the Magnum. Chrysler stopped making them in 08 or 09, but I have seen these puppies as undercovers
2008DodgeMagnum.jpg
 
Serotonin101 said:
Lmao! I bolded the HR aspect of your post. Also I find it funny one of "us" behind the wheel of a cop car and not cuffed in the back seat lol.
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Heh, I used to get to drive cop cars around the parking lot and in and out of the shop I worked in, we were right across the street from a state police barracks so we had a deal with them and did most of their routine maintenance. I got a kick out of coming back from lunch break nice and high to see a cop car waiting and getting to ask him to step out of the car. They stopped letting me touch them when one time jokingly I said to the cop "wow man this is great, now all I gotta do is figure out how to unlock that shotgun" and he got all bent out of shape about it. Like if I was seriously gonna do that, would I really tell the guy to his face???
 
MyDoorsAreOpen said:
* Always American cars. If I can tell it's a foreign car, I immediately let down my guard. I've never known an American police force to use any foreign car.
* Usually non-high-end performance vehicles. Of course I'll mind my behavior around ANY Crown Vicky. But I increasingly see LED cop lights inside the windows of Dodge Chargers and Ford Explorers too.
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Dodge Charger is quickly replacing the Crown Vic as the mainstay police cruiser in North America, also watch for Ford Taurus in Illinois. In the good ol' days of ubiquitous whitewalls "unmarked" police vehicles were easy to tell because they had no whitewalls and only center hubs which no one else used on anything but trailer wheels. Nowadays hints are more subtle: your unmarked cop Charger is often unusually bland looking, with none of the frills most people who buy that sort of car usually order: stripes, bold lettering, shiny mags, etc. Cops have alloy wheels now but they're usually pretty dull looking, charcoal or mate black. The engine is all but dull though, they may be the only ones whose 426 Hemi is not advertised in bold lettering anywhere on the vehicle, but it's got the sound. As for the remaining Crown Vics, anyone that looks dull is probably either a cop car or a former cop car, for some reason kids have recently developed a taste for showing off driving derelict cruisers purchased at auctions. This can be a source of anxiety because those kids like to make those cars look as real as is legally allowed.
 
homeydontplaythat said:
i look at license plates. if they are too few or too many i get supicious. also, i see tons of vermont and illinois plates. no other states really.

the one that freaks me out the most is seeing an american made car with VA plates. i saw a big black suv today with VA plates and the guy looked like a suit. i dont know.

there are also certain emblems on plates that signify the car is state police property.
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Bless those lucky enough to live in states/provinces where front plates are still used, at least you can tell when one is on your butt.
 
Kilfer said:
Bless those lucky enough to live in states/provinces where front plates are still used, at least you can tell when one is on your butt.
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Fuck that, living in a state that uses front license plates is terrible because it's just one more bullshit reason to get pulled over. Not having one on your car can get you pulled over, but if you do have one on there it A) makes you easier to identify, and B) increases the radar signature of your vehicle making it more likely that you will get pulled over for speeding as it is easier for the police to get a good reading of your speed on their first try.
 
in washington state undercover cops always have "xmt" in tiny letters on the left of the license plate.
 
MDAO said:
If I can tell it's a foreign car, I immediately let down my guard. I've never known an American police force to use any foreign car.
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Berkeley PD has some Priuses (I of course saw the marked ones), pretty fittingly :p

ebola
 
ebola? said:
Berkeley PD has some Priuses (I of course saw the marked ones), pretty fittingly :p

ebola
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I actually saw a Jetta used as an undercover cop car the other day. Some brightly flashing blue lights inside the windshield that people moved over for was the only indication. I really am not paranoid for considering every car on the road a potential cop.
 
ebola? said:
Berkeley PD has some Priuses (I of course saw the marked ones), pretty fittingly :p

ebola
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Really, a Prius? They actually expect you to pull over for that? Doesn't take much of a sports car or a skilled driver to outrun one of those. Hell, I'd probably make a run for it on a bicycle...

MyDoorsAreOpen said:
I actually saw a Jetta used as an undercover cop car the other day. Some brightly flashing blue lights inside the windshield that people moved over for was the only indication. I really am not paranoid for considering every car on the road a potential cop.
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Lol I saw an undercover Jetta once too years ago. I was shocked. Tell me you live on the sun coast, I bet it's the same fucking car lol
 
I agree with the no hub caps for sure. I used to think they'd only use American brand cars, but that is not true! (Toyota Corolla!). They will drive pretty much anything, sedans, vans, SUVs, work vehicles, like "Pedro's Tree Cutting Service" written on the side. They don't play, they're sneaky snakes. Also the way they drive, I dunno how to describe it, like with a purpose or something!
 
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