Oh, dammit. 

"Spanfeller is a twat" (theaspiringengineer) 07/27/2018 at 09:22 • Filed to: None

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While American police departments are slowly filling up with “ !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ” patrol cars designed to catch people going 76 in a 75 zone, this is not very common in the capital south of the border. Yet.

My city government bought 160 “stealth” Ford Fusions, 100 are hybrid, and 60 are interceptors. Whether that means it has the 2.7 ecoboost or the 2.0 ecoboost doesn’t matter. These will be given to detectives....but why give detectives interceptors? Generally they run around in zippy Ford Fiestas or in some cases Stef-approved Mitsubishi Lancers, but not cars that can do 0-60 in less than 7 seconds.

The oddest thing about this is that people here don’t trust the police at all, and since Mexico City has little regulation on the use of police lights and no enforcement of the penalties for owning them, civilians buy police lights and install them on their vehicles all the time, specially motorcyclists (mantra here is “bright lights save lives I guess).You can also buy *new* police cars like the Tahoe police package or the Ford Police Interceptor (Taurus SHO) out of the dealer without any sort of background check or public contract, not sure how it works in the US, but impersonating a police officer here is easy and for some reason widespread.

So lets say I’m a huge criminal doing 85 in a 80 zone, and one of these cruisers catches me and wants to pull me over. As far as I know the person inside that car isn’t a police officer, and the car they’re in isn’t a police car. People around me (even other police cruisers) will not pay attention to it and won’t help them stop me. Which is not important if I’m doing 85 in a 80 zone... But it’s going to be a huge issue if it’s a drug dealer or a kidnapper.

Undercover patrol cars brought to you by the same people that chose the Jeep Wrangler as an environmental patrol car inside the most densely populated area of Mexico. Rated one of the trucks with the worst fuel economy by the EPA.

Additionally, cloning police cars here is !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , so I think that people will be really scared that the person asking them to pull over is some sort of mugger, or kidnapper rather than an honest police officer. So they’ll run away or call the cops on the cops. I am always astounded by the choices made by the city government. So stupid, impractical, and illogical.

Fools I say...

Wacko > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 09:26

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this week I saw a brown unmarked Dodge Caravan pulling over a car for speeding.

something like this

Sneaky Quebec provincial police.....

Spanfeller is a twat > Wacko 07/27/2018 at 09:28

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Damn, that is rather sneaky. But I think you’re talking about Sûreté du Québec, or do you want to be fined for disrespecting their language ?

BigBlock440 > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 09:30

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Unmarked cars absolutely should not be used for traffic enforcement, and it should be illegal to do so.

Wacko > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 09:35

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they have to catch me first, 

npc58501 > BigBlock440 07/27/2018 at 09:35

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Only the secret service and FBI really need unmarked as primary vehicles. They aren't ones doing traffic enforcement though.

Spanfeller is a twat > BigBlock440 07/27/2018 at 09:36

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Absolutely . Most of the impact of the police is because they’re there and visible. They should strive to prevent speeding or careless driving in the first place rather than waiting for the traffic fine to occur . It’s probably  safer too!

Spanfeller is a twat > Wacko 07/27/2018 at 09:37

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You know their biggest secrete; minivan police cars. 

Ash78, voting early and often > Wacko 07/27/2018 at 09:40

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With 285hp on tap, those things are surprisingly fast....assuming they don’t torque steer it into a tree first.

BigBlock440 > npc58501 07/27/2018 at 09:45

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I can understand police forces needing unmarked vehicles to do raids and stings and such, but for general traffic enforcement, marked only should be policy.  In my area of PA, the various departments are generally good with that, I very rarely see unmarked cars in the median or have someone pulled over, but I still see it and am a bit nervous about what happens if they decide to pull me over one day. I’d like to think I’d call 911 and say someone in a Subaru is impersonating an officer and trying to pull me over, but I don’t know how that’ll turn out.  I also personally know someone who has been pulled over by someone impersonating an officer, though no harm was done to them to my knowledge.  

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 09:47

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In the US Indiana has the most diabolical unmarked cars, beige mustangs, DOT work trucks and other miscellaneous pedestrian cars.

In the early 90s there was a county in Georgia that ran marked impala ss’s in maroon, tan and black internal lights only 

450X_FTW > BigBlock440 07/27/2018 at 09:51

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I travel to Germany for work a few times a year and I’ve learned it’s illegal there. E very police car is covered in bright florescent reflective colors, as are the officers inside of them. Because this way they can be visible to people, crazy concept right ?

450X_FTW > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 09:52

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Unmarked police cars - because people should have to question as to whether or not the person trying to stop them is a cop or a kidnapper .....

Spanfeller is a twat > My X-type is too a real Jaguar 07/27/2018 at 09:54

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Jesus.... couldnt be worse

Vicente Esteve > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 09:56

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Another thing to ad is that even though you can buy “cop spec” cars from dealerships, they are mostly bought to be used as bodyguard transportation. I would never confuse an unmarked Taurus as a police car since no department I know of uses them.

Either way, unmarked Fusions are a dirty move. 

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 09:59

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The small town I grew up in regularly used anything for unmarked car the most known was a 10 year old  purple mini van.

Spanfeller is a twat > Vicente Esteve 07/27/2018 at 09:59

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Taurusi are used a lot in EdoMex... but thats about it as far as I can tell.

Yes, it’s dirty as hell. Are you a cop or an uber black cab? 

Wacko > Ash78, voting early and often 07/27/2018 at 10:01

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or break down first.

Spanfeller is a twat > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 07/27/2018 at 10:05

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Some police departments in Oaxaca used decommissioned drug dearler cars. x5s andSLks

facw > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 10:23

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Speaking of Uber/t axis, when I lived in NYC, I did see these a few times:

Luckily, I’ve only driven in NYC twice, so they weren’t much of a threat to me (and they’d be a billion times more likely to pull over some other taxi first).

facw > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 10:27

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There are some unmarked police cars I can approve of:

Joking aside, I somehow find unmarked cars less offensive than those low contrast stealth designs. Regardless, I don’t think you should have unmarked cars pulling people over. Use them to catch people speeding if you must, but have a normal, marked car pull them over (it’s not like police don’t already sometimes have one car running the radar gun and radioing to others to make the stops). 

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 10:28

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I saw this Excursion the other day. I sincerely hope that this and the early 2000s Tundra are road work only trucks. 

Spanfeller is a twat > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 07/27/2018 at 10:32

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Somewhere in Mexico there’s a lifted light duty Chevy doing work for Proteccion Civil. “Like fire and rescue in the US"

Spanfeller is a twat > facw 07/27/2018 at 10:36

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CISEN still use Ford F iestas I think (for all intents and purposes Mexico’s FBI)

I’ve seen them pull over trucks on the highway, with help of marked highway patrol cars. It’d be quite a sight to see a semi pull over for a Ford Fiesta. 

Svend > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 10:36

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Here in the U.K. I appreciate unmarked cars. It keeps people on their toes to behave and drive better if any car on the road could be an unmarked police car.

The things they catch is crazy, not just people on their mobiles or driving without wearing their seatbelt but driving while reading a book, driving with a full paper map open, driving whilst eating a bowl of cereal, etc...

We also have police trucks that catch truck drivers cooking whilst driving, watching TV whilst driving, etc...

This truck driver in the red cab was not only talking on his mobile, but was drinking whilst driving, he blew 92 on the in car breathalyser, our limit is 35. Blowing 73 and 69 at the station. It’s usually catching someone commit a semi obvious offence to catch them do something more serious.

Even fully liveried ones catch the stupidest people.

Spanfeller is a twat > Svend 07/27/2018 at 10:54

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I get that it might help in places like England b ut in Mexico we don’t have the infrastructure for unmarked cars to work.

Either way, I think police officers do their job best when people can see them. As far as I understand police departments do preventative law enforcement, I understand some cases you point out required a unmarked car.. . but the worst ones could’ve been handled by marked cars that would’ve also made the people around the offenders feel safer.

“Keeping people on their toes” might stress people out unnecessarily and make driving more unsafe. I understand why you feel how you feel too . My  point is lost in Europe; in Europe police officers are trusted A LOT, nothing like in Mexico or (I suspect) the US. People typically have a different relationship with police there .

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 11:02

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The most undercover cop car I’ve seen with lights lately was operated by the City of Seattle. It was a  teal third generation VW Jetta. I have to imagine it was a drug confiscation, but wouldn’t put anything past the Seattle Police department. It looked like a $2500 CL car.

Svend > Spanfeller is a twat 07/27/2018 at 11:15

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Ye’, it’s a real shame that people can’t trust the police in their own country .

Bar a few a-holes, each force has them (my old superintendent is one of them, he’s an APO now (armed officer), still a douche), they are really approachable and can walk up to any and have a chat with, no matter how mundane.

These are armed police from the Metropolitan Police, Diplomatic Protection Service in the Diplomatic area or London. Chatting about motorbikes.

Spanfeller is a twat > Svend 07/27/2018 at 13:47

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Yeah, it’s a bit of a shame many cops are very good yet the bad ones can overshadow them. P art of improving relationships with the police is knowing they’re on our side... for that undercover traffic enforcement cars are not going to be helpful . 

Spanfeller is a twat > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 07/27/2018 at 13:49

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That’s sneaky

xc90v8/I4 :( > 450X_FTW 07/27/2018 at 16:45

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I’m pretty sure thats not true.

I’m not from germany but I’ve seen many documentaries on youtube that show undercover police following drivers on the Autobahn and measuring their speed for fines.

dogrivergrad68 > Spanfeller is a twat 07/31/2018 at 11:41

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Hell, that would eliminate most of the revenue for most small town police departments in the US, especially in the South.

Spanfeller is a twat > dogrivergrad68 07/31/2018 at 13:14

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Because it’s flawed.

The biggest flaw in Fegouson wasn’t that the police was fining too many african american people... the flaw in Fegouson is that taxes aren’ t high enough for the city to work without the fines.

dogrivergrad68 > Spanfeller is a twat 07/31/2018 at 14:52

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Unfortunately that often causes people who could pay those higher taxes to move someplace else, leaving a municipality full of those who pay little or nothing.

Traffic fines allow “others” to contribute to that municipality’s coffers.  The odds of someone that doesn’t live in the area will show up in court to fight the charge is low.  They’ll just pay the fine to avoid any problems an unpaid ticket may cause.  Some of the notorious speed trap towns can often have 10+ officers for 200-300 residents.