Those fake cop cars...

[Shock]

Have any of you ever seen a car that resembles a police car, with some type of intentional indication that it may be one.. Then as you approach it, realize that it's not a police vehicle at all? I've seen this a few times... A lot of old retired CVPI's roll around, with an antenna farm or push bar. One has a number on the back of it. These aren't necessarily volly cars (most vollys here are good about their POVs) either, no lights usually. Though, one of our EMTs has a police charger fully outfitted with questionably-legal police equipment.

While at school (university) today, I noticed this and it brought to ask as I have seen it so much. There is a black Taurus SHO that is there on the days that I am. I appreciate the SHO, it's a beautiful muscle car. It does resemble its police counterpart, but oh well. OK, so as I walk by this car, I see that there's a "Police Interceptor" badge tacked under the SHO logo on the back. The windows are also heavily tinted. I never noticed the badge, that bugs me. It went from being a beautiful all american sedan to being a wannabe...

I used to think that this kind of thing isn't intentional. But people are sticking "Police Interceptor" onto their civilian Taurus'..? A little ridiculous. Do you have this issue in your area? Why would someone want to perceive themselves as a police officer? I feel like if I needed a police officer (maybe even on-duty?), and I flagged down one of these vehicles, I would be pretty upset to find out that it's not real.

/vent

 

[Flying]

This sums up why:

 

[TransportJockey]

In both NM and texas there are private security companies that run a lot of cars like this. Unmarked or marked very closely to local LE agencies. It happens. I will add that when they're non security or le, it almost always is a volunteer firefighter that owns it

 

[Shock]

Why don't people drive around pretending to be EMT's

Is it because we don't carry guns? Are our oxygen cylinders not good enough for you?

 

[DesertMedic66]

I see the cars fairly often as police departments will send their units off to auction once they reach a certain milage.

We also have some retired ambulances in our area that are used as ice cream trucks, locksmith trucks, and mobile mechanic trucks.

 

[squirrel15]

As desertmedic said, 99% of them are retired police cars. You can usually pick them up for a good price and at times you find them in decent condition

 

[Shock]

Honestly, I'm ok with that. Where I get frustrated is when people start adding things to them, such as an antenna farm, a police interceptor badge, the works.

 

[Fleury14]

You need to find better things to get upset about.

 

[Shock]

You need to find better things to get upset about.

You're right. Obviously I've made a critical mistake here being concerned about people intentionally trying to pass off as police officers.

 

[Tigger]

I'm not sure that's quite what is going on here. Weirdos and whackers abound.

If you're concerned about someone trying to pass themselves off as a LEO you should probably contact the cops instead of an EMS forum, that is after all a legit crime.

 

[chaz90]

Someone buying a used Crown Vic Interceptor doesn't bother me in the slightest. Keeping the spotlight and adding radio antennas is pretty whackerish, but it doesn't affect me. As long as they aren't putting on "Police" lettering, emergency lights, or trying to make fraudulent traffic stops, who cares?

 

[AtlasFlyer]

A tiny "police interceptor" badge on a car is not nearly the same thing as painting up a car in department livery & lights and actually pretending to be a cop.

Is it whacker-ish? Hellz yes. Stupid and make the person a moronic wanna-be? Yup.

Worth any measure of actually getting upset about from my standpoint? Nope.

 

[squirrel15]

Honestly, I'm ok with that. Where I get frustrated is when people start adding things to them, such as an antenna farm, a police interceptor badge, the works.

Yeah most of those things are left on when they are sold used. The police interceptor badge, means it has the police package from the factory, departments aren't going to take the time to remove that. The antenna farm, they are disconnected from the radios on the interior and then left in place, for two reasons, 1: its wasted time to remove them 2: so there aren't holes they have to fill in wasting more time.

If you don't believe me look up used police cars for sale and see that people aren't adding those things themselves they are just left on. And yes they leave working spot lights on the cars too. You're getting upset over something silly that most people have no control over.

 

[Mufasa556]

I'm pretty good at identifying the in service cars vs. What we call Junkyard Sheriff. Unless it says Highway Patrol on the back, I just blow right past them.

I'm currently looking for a CNG Crown Vic. They're pretty cheap, get carpool lane access, and cost about $30 to fill up. Sure, you're not going to pull any chicks in an old Crown Vic, but I'm In a pretty significant dry spell anyways. I might as well save some money.

Any yahoo can buy a Police Interceptor decal off Amazon and slap it onto their vehicle. I just did and am going to put on the back of the rig next time I'm on shift. It'll replace our Wheeled Coach decal that fell off.

 

[squirrel15]

I'm currently looking for a CNG Crown Vic. They're pretty cheap, get carpool lane access, and cost about $30 to fill up.

I don't know where you're at, but in California I don't think CNG gets carpool access anymore, and finding a CNG station is a pain, I'd use it for my truck but there's one gas station that has CNG fuel within 75 miles

 

[Akulahawk]

I don't know where you're at, but in California I don't think CNG gets carpool access anymore, and finding a CNG station is a pain, I'd use it for my truck but there's one gas station that has CNG fuel within 75 miles

CNG vehicles can use the carpool lane, but they must have the "white" sticker as simply being a CNG vehicle alone won't qualify. Currently those stickers expire in 2019.

Here's the current list: http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/carpool.htm

 

[Mufasa556]

Yeah, even if you buy a CNG vehicle with the white stickers you have to remove them and file renewal paperwork to get new ones in your name. Gotta love CA.

If it wasn't so convenient, I wouldn't consider it. There's a CNG station near our station and five along my commute home. At $1.99 a gallon, it would save me a ton of money on the 50 mile one way commute in my truck with 180k miles on it.

It's been surprisingly difficult to track down a decent car that's not a high mileage blown out old Police/taxi, is 2003+(tanks are only good for 15yrs), and has extended range tanks.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Yeah, even if you buy a CNG vehicle with the white stickers you have to remove them and file renewal paperwork to get new ones in your name. Gotta love CA.

If it wasn't so convenient, I wouldn't consider it. There's a CNG station near our station and five along my commute home. At $1.99 a gallon, it would save me a ton of money on the 50 mile one way commute in my truck with 180k miles on it.

It's been surprisingly difficult to track down a decent car that's not a high mileage blown out old Police/taxi, is 2003+(tanks are only good for 15yrs), and has extended range tanks.

What kind of MPG can you get with CNG as compared to gas? Diesel engines, for instance, typically offer about 20% better mileage than a comparable gas engine. How does CNG compare?

Gasoline is only $1.70/gal here in upstate SC.....

 

[squirrel15]

What kind of MPG can you get with CNG as compared to gas? Diesel engines, for instance, typically offer about 20% better mileage than a comparable gas engine. How does CNG compare?

Gasoline is only $1.70/gal here in upstate SC.....

You lose a fair amount of mileage with CNG, I can't recall the numbers off the top of my head right now.

I was mistaken then, I thought the white stickers had expired already.

 

[Mufasa556]

What kind of MPG can you get with CNG as compared to gas? Diesel engines, for instance, typically offer about 20% better mileage than a comparable gas engine. How does CNG compare?

Gasoline is only $1.70/gal here in upstate SC.....

My truck has a 25 gallon tank and gets 11-14mpg. I commute just over 100 miles a day on a 3/4 split. My range on the truck is about 250-300 miles. Gas prices are $2.90-$3.30, depending on where I fill up.

The extended range CNG tanks hold about 12-15 GGE (Gasoline Gallon Equivalent) and get between 18-25mpg with a range of about 250 miles. CNG is between $1.99-$2.60gge.

I have a little project truck/off-roader tucked away in garage and use my other truck as a daily driver. I don't really need two 4 wheel drive trucks. I figure I'll offload my DD for a CNG car. Save a little money and, what I'm more interested in, cut down on my commute by using the carpool lane.