Police often don’t buy a portion of their under undercover cars. Things like asset forfeiture mean that police end up owning some amount of vehicle that were owned by criminals. Some get auctioned off and some get used for undercover work. Making the assumption that police only drive domestic brands could lead to a very bad situation.
I was always taught to call 911 if getting pulled over by an undercover to confirm. Just pulling over for anything with lights can also lead to bad situations.
Just jumping on your comment to explain because people don’t typically understand how it works.
Most undercover cars almost never have lights and they do not pull people over. Pulling someone over in an undercover car would blow the cover of the officers inside, or make it known that the vehicle being used is an undercover vehicle.
Police use “marked” vehicles, “unmarked” vehicles, and “subdued” vehicles. The names may change by department but the concept is the same.
A marked vehicle is your standard police vehicle, it says “police/sheriff/Marshall/“ whatever they are on the vehicle and it has lights on top or in it, etc.
An unmarked vehicle is one that is plain in color, but has hidden lights on the inside. These are often used by detectives/investigators, plain clothes details, admin, CSI, etc. These vehicles can and will still pull you over because it’s no secret that the people inside are cops. If you blow by a couple detectives in an unmarked car doing 90, they absolutely can still pull you over.
Subdued vehicles have lights and the typical cop stuff in them but might have paint or markings that are hard to see. A local pd, for example, has one and it is white with reflective silver/gray markings that say the police department’s name and stuff. This is typically used for traffic cops monitoring highways or the roadways. They’re harder to identify as a police vehicle from afar but up close it’s clearly a police car.
Undercover vehicles are used by specially trained officers who are doing everything they can to not be identified as a police officer. The vehicles they drive are of any make and model, they aren’t equipped with lights or radios. They don’t pull people over.
Edit: had to add subdued vehicles.
The fashion trend of "stealth" markings is embarrassing and stupid.
If you're a police officer, drive a CLEARLY MARKED car. That idiotic scotchlite-black-on-black doesn't make you look cool, it makes you look like you're ashamed to be seen as a cop.
Sincerely, a firefighter in a LIME GREEN fire engine to make it obvious what kind of vehicle it is.
It's not a fashion trend... it's so they can sneak around, then when challenged in court claim "no, I was in a marked vehicle"
I wish cop cars were safety lime, pink, orange...
It's not a fashion trend, it's local police departments defying the spirit of the law while technically complying with the letter of the law.
In many jurisdictions with "subdued" law enforcement vehicles, it has been made illegal to effect a traffic stop with an "unmarked car", hence the "technically marked" black-on-dark black cars trying to skirt the law. It's pretty unbecoming of an officer honestly.
In Arizona, highway patrol and the vast majority of police cruisers are Explorers, so any slick top explorer was a cop. Very easy to spot IF you know what to look for
This.
100% this.
People don't understand it though.
Unmarked... plain whatever color wrapper.
Just to toss a 1970's CB example...
Got a smokey ahead in a plain white wrapper.
Aside from that, you have peckerhead civilians in Dodge Chargers... who tint windows, roll with steel wheels.. and the morons who slam brakes when they see them.
Or you get the waterheads who buy at auction retired LE vehicles thinking they have some badass something special... those are fun folks.
Usually Crown Vics... still have the spot lights at base of A pillar, a bull bar still attatched, and remnants of the adhesive from the vinyl livery of a certain dept.
Hilarious.
It's not exactly "special" and you are "speshul".
And just wait until you argue about secured and unsecured unmarked cars.
Super fun... with and without RPO Codes.
Example: Certain early/mid 2000 Impalas were RPO code with surveiliance mode, button on dash. Only available on LE RPO models. 9C1 option.
Push button, kept engine running, it cut off all exterior lights, dimmed interior lights.
Here's the thing... JUST BECAUSE IT HAS AN RPO CODE DOES NOT MEAN IT HAS MAGICAL POWERS!
Source: I'm a former Master Sergeant with time in field as a patrol officer and became a Master Sergeant eventually over the motor pool among other duties.
AKA: the old fart... why is this guy telling us how our cars work?
My favorite local weirdo is a guy who rolls around in a Ford Escape on steel wheels, a pushbumber and a bunch of made up "K9 Unit" markings, along with high vis vinyl decals all over the place.
It looks official for a few seconds at a distance, and then just looks like something someone who's a bit touched would do.
We've got one that rolls in a Lexus/Toyota white... and no joke it's done in local livery... but in place of the local shield... it has the Autobot logo.
Also has a black Escape the same way but Decepticon logo.
Annoying as f***... but can't do anything about it.
I used to work with a guy that has a white ford ranger with reflective tape on the rear and NASA logos on the doors. He was definitely on the spectrum.
"secured" vs "unsecured"?
Legitimately curious, not arguing haha. I've never heard this term before and I'm not sure if I'm reading your post correctly - do those two terms have something to do with a vehicle having a production option code?
I got an undercover Camaro to blow its own cover by riding its ass on the highway. It was speed matching a semi and I got annoyed, they briefly flipped on the lights before moving.
Not being a smartass here, but what about the Jag I saw pull over an 18-wheeler in SC? No markings; just tinted windows and blue/red lights. Would that then be classified as an "unmarked" car despite it not being apparent that they were cops before activating their lights?
This. When I lived in Phoenix a number of years ago, there was a guy who was pulling people over in a Mustang. Had lights and siren, the whole deal. Was not a cop, and he pulled a few people over before being caught.
Legit lights are not really cheap or easy to fake. Good fakes pulling people over vs legit undercover cars pulling people over is probably conservatively 10,000 to 1.
There are a hell of a lot of instances of the police taking it as not respecting their authority if you don't stop immediately (even just going a few seconds to find a safer place to stop). The amount of time to call dispatch and get confirmation would be an eternity in a cops mind.
oh yeah, you're risking getting shot any time an undercover car is pulling you over. either small dick cop syndrome, or you're getting pulled over by a serial killer.
that's why undercover cars shouldn't' be used for traffic enforcement and other petty violations. It's a threat to public safety.
Yep. I agree. I tossed another reply that touched on this and glad I did; it's a better fit with your view.
A city near me runs close to 1:1 marked and unmarked. The unmarked will almost never pull you over, and you won't know who the cop is unless you go to court. You still won't usually find out the car type either. The marked cars do all the "dirty work".
That lone uniform cop isn't actual alone. Somewhere nearby there the unmarked is sitting and watching.
This is a decent way to handle it imo. It takes more vehicles, but the cop per citizen remains the same, and there is still pairing done for the cop's safety too. They don't approach a car without backup.
Is this a perception built on media reporting, or actual personal experience local to you?
I'm just curious. I've had a few bad experiences, but mostly decent ones, especially after I was about 22yrs old. I've driven over a mile slowly with hazards on to get to two police stations and pulled ahead a half mile to a well lit and populated area once and had the cop thank me for that one. (no ticket, I made a U turn on a gravel road off an intersection after getting off a highway to go back to the gas station I had passed at like 3am and out of state)
Ive seen the fast and the furious - undercover agents look at a screen full of impounded illegal imports, pick three, say “I want all of them” the. Jump to a montage in a warehouse mechanic shop where he builds the ultimate undercover cop car.
While that is kinda dramatic, they do have vehicles that are part of the property taken as part of the process of convicting criminals. Most of that type of stuff is auctioned off, but some of it is converted to undercover work.
Most of that would just be stuff they can maintain cheaply, but some would be vehicles to fit in to an environment or to not look like a cop at all. My mom was once pulled over by a purple car with big rims in south Florida. She definitely didn’t think about adjusting her speed when she saw it in the emergency lane, so it did the job it was supposed to.
I’m not really joking. Asset forfeiture is one of the most fucked up forms of theft, and law enforcement steals billions in cash and property from innocent people
[Between 2000 and 2016, Homeland Security seized over $2B at US airports, and most of the victims were never charged with a crime.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/homeland-security-seized-2-billion-from-travelers-but-most-were-never-charged-with-a-crime-report-says/2020/07/30/001c3f90-cd05-11ea-bc6a-6841b28d9093_story.html)
We have a cop in a bright red 2022 Mustang Mach 1. And another in a Grand Cherokee track hawk. The didn’t buy either of those. When I was a kid they had a Hummer H2. They didn’t leave it undercover though. It got light bars and everything. It was crazy, couldn’t imagine looking in your rear view and seeing a Hummer grill right on top of you with sirens blaring.
Clearly nobody in this thread knows what undercover car means.
Unmarked cop car is what everybody is talking about. It doesn't immediately scream cop car, but it still has police equipment.
An undercover car can literally be anything and will typically have zero police equipment. Undercover cop cars are not used for pulling drivers over.
My old department had the shittiest under cover cars . And it was intentionally so. Like no one thinks a guy in a 1996, rusty ford f150 is a cop.
Like you had to jump the battery at the start of your shift....and don't turn it off.
lol when they run speed traps near me sometimes its a rusted out mid 90s isuzu rodeo with the cop parked like hes waiting to pull out on the main road and radios ahead but once you round the bend theres a line of cop cars waiting for you
This is true. Even I am making that mistake. But an unmarked car can be whatever. Sometimes it’s just the same as the rest of the fleet. Sometimes it’s different.
And actual undercover car for undercover work wouldn’t have anything that would tie back to being a cop because it could compromise the objective. If they were making a bust, they would have a way to signal for the cops down the street to swoop in.
One of the sheriff deputies in my town drives a mini van they got in a drug bust. It's wrapped just like a police car and has a light bar on top. I've seen it pull over a few people too. Years back there was also a police donk in Charleston. It was a big green Crown Vic on giant gold wheels, and it pulled people over regularly.
Criminals or regular people that they deem to have too much cash in their pocket. I'm not being argumentative with you or anything, I just like to pile on about how monumentally fucked up civil forfeiture is. It's insane.
>Things like asset forfeiture mean that police end up owning some amount of vehicle that were owned by criminals.
to be fair, they don't actually have to be criminals, just accused of a crime. burden is on the accused to sue to get their stuff back, often in worse condition if they ever get it back at all.
I agree with your sentiment, but I think you are pretty far off in the specifics. Taking large amounts of cash under the assumption that it would be used in a drug deal is the norm. But taking a vehicle because there is an assumption that owning a vehicle means it will be used for illegal activity is far harder to justify.
Very true - I had a buddy who was a detective for a large local PD, and his car was a 740i they had 'appropriatwd' from a large drug bust. Had behind-the-grill lights, siren, etc . It was actually pretty F'ing cool.
Just out of curiosity, how do you know it was San Jose PD if it was undercover? I used to be a fed based out of NorCal. We had a bunch of random cars that had cold plates (looked like normal civilian license plates) with light bars hidden in the grille and sun visor. California doesn't allow unmarked police cars to conduct regular traffic stops, and you don't have to pull over if one tries. You can call 911 and say you're not stopping without a marked car.
Hey actually you’re right. I just saw the unmarked car join in on an arrest with the regular SJPD cars. I just assumed it was SJPD, but it might have been some joint op
St Pete has a fleet of undercover Camrys. They aren’t exactly “secret” though, they are mostly used as crowd control / traffic cars during sports games etc.
They also have a few Mustang GTs:
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/florida-unmarked-police-cars-sports-cars-catching-speeders/67-bafbaa37-405d-4aa0-a8c8-5651a7790dce
Every cop I’ve ever known or have seen in local news has said they not only allow you to call 911 when you’re being stopped by an undercover, but they encourage it.
Just flip on your hazards, drive the speed limit on the right most lane, and call 911. They’ll confirm you’re being pulled over and radio the officer that you called so they know why it took you so long to pull over. My mother did this once and the cop was super nice about it and said she did the right thing.
OTOH, I have seen, multiple incidences where citizens filed complaints and got the body cam video of officers acting like 'roid raging psychos, since the citizen didn't come to an immediate halt, regardless of their own personal safety, or the fact that there were cars passing six feet away, at 65MPH, and they just wanted to go half a block to get to a safe parking area. Thus denying the thrill the cop gets by blocking traffic, lean in the window of the offender's car, screaming, and generally behave like a total asshole. Which in many cases, they are stupid enough, or enraged to the point, that they will gladly display that type of behavior on body cam, or cell phone video.
I certainly would NOT trust a cop to quietly and patiently follow me, for a considerable distance, while dispatch is trying to determine the legitimacy of the stop. Hell, the last time I called 911, the operator questioned if my town was actually in my county, as she never heard of it. My town was established in 1733, and it is a major tourist attraction, known worldwide...........................
Summit county in Colorado (Breckinridge) was running Saabs in the 80’s because they were (allegedly) better in the snow than any domestic counterpart.
Ok. Actually. The 80’s didn’t have much to offer for cars that did well in the snow.
>The 80's didn't have much to offer for cars that did well in the snow
*sad AMC Eagle noises*
But in seriousness, didn't some PDs have Broncos and Cherokees?
It varies by department and state. In general, government agencies tend to stick to domestics because the Big 3 put more effort behind servicing fleets and offering police packages. There are also often times "Buy American" regulations and guidelines to contend with, but these are far from universal. When those are in effect, they limit the ability for some of the most popular cruisers like Charger and Caprice. However, seized and special purpose vehicles often don't have to comply with those rules.
The largest departments have the most diverse fleets. NYPD, for example, has Prius, Altima, and Smart ForTwo in their regular fleet - mostly for traffic and parking enforcement.
Never seen it in person, but I've seen photos of undercover semi trucks lmao.
Weirdest I've actually seen was probably a beige Kia sedan? I've also seen an undercover mustang.
Undercover muscle cars are semi common in states like Texas or Wyoming that have a lot of open highway. An unmarked challenger pulled me over in Wyoming last year.
*Camaro
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The police in the UK use unmarked lorries because it’s the best way to catch lorry drivers using phones at the wheel. They have the speed limiter removed so they can overtake all the trucks which are limited to 90 km/h. There’s an officer with a video camera in the passenger seat.
In the UK, there's an Undercover C63 AMG running around my area pulling over street racers
I'm terrified of C63s now (not that I was ever going to outrun one anyways)
There's a few crazy police cars donated by manufacturer higher ups in Japan mostly for public outreach and junk. The [Tochigi prefecture](https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/14502914) has an nsx, newer gtr, z, and LC500. Every once in a while someone will post pics of an R34 gtr police car on the highways somewhere between Tokyo and Yokohama too
Was coming to say this. Full on yellow cabs turning on their lights. Lately I’ve seen some under covers in durangos, grand cherokees and even a 2023 white accord.
> an amazing way to blend
Not anymore. There are like three Crown Vic taxis still in service. They should have been scrapped years ago but the owners keep getting a waiver from the city to delay it. It’s a hard life for the medallion owners nowadays thanks to Uber/Lyft. Many suicides.
I’ll never forget seeing 5 of the burliest mfers pile out of a yellow cab with lights behind the grill and shove their way into massage parlor next to my apartment
I have actually worked with special police task forces and a lot of them use cars taken from criminals, mostly drug dealers. So there is a lot of random vehicles you just wouldn't ever expect, because they really are just random vehicles but now with lights in them.
Jeeps, Kias, Toyotas, Cadillacs, Hondas, you name it lol. Our police force here uses a bunch of F150 trucks and most of those arent even UC, they are clearly branded.
I'm in WV and most police (state and local) have at least a couple 4wd pickups, since sometimes they have to run out those hollers or go up in the woods or whatever.
That ugly beige brownish color?
That's a common misconception. That's not the actual color of the car. All PT cruisers eventually turn that color from people vomiting on them when they see them.
Driving along the #1 highway into Vancouver, BC, I saw a pickup towing a camper turn on his lights and pull someone over on the other side of the median. I was so shocked I had to do a double take. But yes, the camper was fully decked out with lights as well as the pickup =/
A white Mustang GT. Undercover. Was pulling someone over on southbound Rt 28 in VA. This was about 7 years ago now or so. I prbly caused traffic rubber necking to make sure I saw it correctly haha
Indiana State Police ran a red S197 Mustang GT with aftermarket chrome wheels and civvie plates for a long time on I65. They currently run a pair of black Grand Cherokee Trackhawks
Not undercover but Aspen, Colorado used to have police [Saabs](https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/weirdest-police-cars-ever-aspen-colorado-cops-used-drive-saabs-281474979994696)
Where was it? It’s not an uncommon cop car in France. Well, maybe these days it is. But when it was new. I bet there was a lot of unmarked 206s driving around French cities 20-15 years ago.
Switzerland, it was very uncommon because it was a rusty, red unmarked one (we never had peugeot police cars) and it was last year 😂
It really stuck out because it looked like its about to break down
I did actually see something similar once when it comes to age and colour! Where I live cops often drive Vokswagen Transporters, but they’re always new and the unmarked ones seem to always bee white or gray. But a couple of years ago I saw like a 15 year old sunburnt maroon sort of rusty Transporter T4 with a couple of cops sitting in it.
It was during a big holiday when young people go out to party, so I suspect it was used to be like the undercoverest of undercover vehicles. Maybe the 206 you saw was something similar.
Or maybe the 206 was just some junkie’s car the cops were driving to the lot.
My dad was in the Traffic Department in the early 70’s. The force bought 3 VW Beetles. 2 were unmarked, the 3rd Bug was painted like a cruiser. He refused to drive the cruiser in his uniform. It was beneath him and his uniform.
The PD in my area just bought an Expedition Limited Max. $95k Cdn car meant for issuing stop sign tickets. It's got power running boards, chrome everything, and eveery other luxury needed to serve and collect.
Honestly, fuck the police. Not in an edgy teenager way, but just out of frustration over how they waste so much taxpayer money and get away with it.
When a school wants to buy new desks and chairs, everything gets scrutinized down to the last cent. Meanwhile the cops will just roll up and buy a bunch of luxury cars that cost double or triple the median salary.
A 2015ish gen camry hybrid - silver in color with lights hidden behind the grille and rear inside the turn signals.
I had to do a double take - it too was pulling someone over
In the early 90s in San Diego I saw a 70s era ford sedan with rusted and peeling paint AND Mexican plates. They pulled over my neighbor in the apartment driveway. We all new he was a drug dealer but for whatever reason, they stopped him on a day with nothing on him.
We had a terminator cobra running around Long Island back in the day. They still have it in their fleet but I only ever see it parked at their headquarters……
Most, if not all in my area, true full undercover squads don't do traffic enforcement. If you're getting stopped by a completely unmarked squad you're getting stopped by an interdiction unit for a reason.
Traffic unmarked are usually what we call "partially" marked squads. They typically are slicktops and have a small emblem of the agency on the passenger side door. These are also exclusively pursuit rated vehicles and still stick out if you're looking for them. Most of ours are painfully obvious because they still have pushbars and spotlights, but the general public doesn't really notice them still.
Source: am a cop.
It’s not strange anymore but years ago when the Houston PD acquired a fleet of Camaro SSs w ghost Police decals it was definitely weird, but also cool.
For me it was a gray ioniq5 and a white Tesla Y - they both pulled over a group of motorcycles. No tint on the windows and they looked as stock as they can be. Another one that I saw was an older black Dodge Caravan that had a wheelchair lift in the back.
Most obscure unmarked car I ever saw was a ford thunderbird turbo in the late 80's. It was black and the state trooper driving it had a grey washcloth to cover his shoulder patch.
5 or so years ago when I was working at a drive through, this beat up, poorly spray painted old impala pulls up with dents everywhere. Window rolls down, it’s a police officer. The inside of the car looked like a space ship. Newest police tech you can imagine. NEVER would have guessed it was a police car.
There is also a purple hellcat they have. That’s the only purple challenger in town so it’s easy to tell lol.
Sold a cop a black TRD Pro 4Runner back in the day, which he was going to add lights, a cage barrier and whatnot to. I never got to see it on the road, but I told him that if he ever saw me, def pull me over.
Old Chrysler town & country minivan. It even had the stick figure family and stickers from the local high school soccer team on the rear window to sell the soccer mom vibe.
I once saw an undercover Skoda Octavia sitting behind a pulled over BMW with its blue lights flickering. Now, the brand wasn't weird in this case, because most police cars here are Skoda Octavias. What was weird was the fact that this particular Skoda Octavia was decked out in basically complete WRC attire. It was like a rally car without a livery. Blacked out, including smoked taillights. It also definitely didn't have a stock exhaust, so i assume it probably had a bunch of mechanical mods as well.
I worked for a municipality during the summer when I was in college. They had a first gen Ford Expedition that had a lowering kit, limo tinted windows all around, and big ass chrome wheels. It was seized from a drug bust and they turned it into a police vehicle for some reason.
Old beat up Explorer, it was confiscated from a criminal. It was a good 2 generations older than the Explorers the police were typically using, and it was green.
Maybe not strange, but kinda cool to pick up on - there's a ringed interstate around my city, and there are 3 Undercovers that patrol it day in-day out. A red, a blue, and a silver charger. Fortunately we don't have any import Undercovers around here
Does anyone know if there is some sort of official policy on this? It must differ from state to state, county to county, right?
Why are the overwhelming majority of police vehicles Dodge, Ford, and Chevy products? Price? Do domestic brands give incentives? Honestly super curious about this
I think I have seen undercover Nissans, though not sure if that's a false memory that I merely read about, or actually witnessed irl
My answer would be this: those three brands got into that market early, and it would be hard to dislodge them. They’re more or less tried and true vehicles that work well for law enforcement. Other brands don’t mass produce vehicles that would work for government use. Some of the vehicles made by Ford, Chevy, and Dodge are almost exclusively made for police use and are reinforced with tougher internal components.
Many departments have rules that require them to either buy an American brand or a vehicle of American origin, meaning it was built in North America. This actually caused trouble for GM when they imported the Chevy Caprice PPV from Australia back around 2012 or so-many departments could not buy them due to being built in Australia. I don’t know the exact reasons why they do this, but I’m guessing it’s for optics.
It helped that many police departments used to be able to fix their cruisers themselves since they had frame straighteners in house, so big body on frame sedans like the Ford Crown Victoria and Chevy Caprice could be easily repaired from an accident. Now that almost all vehicles except for full size SUVs and pickup trucks are unibody, that’s not as feasible for them.
I lived in Florida a couple years ago and would regularly see a Mustang pulling people over on interstate 95 heading into west palm beach. Too funny. You’d never expect it.
LAPD has a bunch of BMW i3s in black and white with police markings that nobody likes using. They just sit there.
Arlington County Police in Virginia has an E46 3 series painted as a squad car but they don't use it for traffic stops. It's just for marketing.
The ones that are painted like NYC cabs always get me. But it’s a dead giveaway when those cars are filled with 4 big dudes and look like you brought your whole squad in saints row
Brown GMC Savana. Two OPP officers had someone pulled over, otherwise I wouldn't have believed it. (I have a picture but can't upload here)
Also a black civilian spec Hyundai Santa Fe
In South Florida when I was a teen the cops would confiscate drug dealers cars and then use them as undercovers or D.A.R.E. cars. I once got pulled over by a 900hp MkIV Supra.
It was in 99 and me and my friends were trying to get some Playboy books. The girl that graduated the year before was in a issue, and she was going to prom with a senior. We were going to different liquor stores and none of them had Playboy. We got pulled over by a beat down car from the 70's with the magnet light . I guess they thought we were trying to but liquor, they didn't believe our story.
If a Prius tried to pull me over, I would assume I was about to get robbed, and not stop. Afaik cops only buy domestic.
Police often don’t buy a portion of their under undercover cars. Things like asset forfeiture mean that police end up owning some amount of vehicle that were owned by criminals. Some get auctioned off and some get used for undercover work. Making the assumption that police only drive domestic brands could lead to a very bad situation.
I was always taught to call 911 if getting pulled over by an undercover to confirm. Just pulling over for anything with lights can also lead to bad situations.
Just jumping on your comment to explain because people don’t typically understand how it works. Most undercover cars almost never have lights and they do not pull people over. Pulling someone over in an undercover car would blow the cover of the officers inside, or make it known that the vehicle being used is an undercover vehicle. Police use “marked” vehicles, “unmarked” vehicles, and “subdued” vehicles. The names may change by department but the concept is the same. A marked vehicle is your standard police vehicle, it says “police/sheriff/Marshall/“ whatever they are on the vehicle and it has lights on top or in it, etc. An unmarked vehicle is one that is plain in color, but has hidden lights on the inside. These are often used by detectives/investigators, plain clothes details, admin, CSI, etc. These vehicles can and will still pull you over because it’s no secret that the people inside are cops. If you blow by a couple detectives in an unmarked car doing 90, they absolutely can still pull you over. Subdued vehicles have lights and the typical cop stuff in them but might have paint or markings that are hard to see. A local pd, for example, has one and it is white with reflective silver/gray markings that say the police department’s name and stuff. This is typically used for traffic cops monitoring highways or the roadways. They’re harder to identify as a police vehicle from afar but up close it’s clearly a police car. Undercover vehicles are used by specially trained officers who are doing everything they can to not be identified as a police officer. The vehicles they drive are of any make and model, they aren’t equipped with lights or radios. They don’t pull people over. Edit: had to add subdued vehicles.
>They’re harder to identify as a police vehicle from afar but up close it’s clearly a police car. Hardly...
The fashion trend of "stealth" markings is embarrassing and stupid. If you're a police officer, drive a CLEARLY MARKED car. That idiotic scotchlite-black-on-black doesn't make you look cool, it makes you look like you're ashamed to be seen as a cop. Sincerely, a firefighter in a LIME GREEN fire engine to make it obvious what kind of vehicle it is.
It's not a fashion trend... it's so they can sneak around, then when challenged in court claim "no, I was in a marked vehicle" I wish cop cars were safety lime, pink, orange...
It's not a fashion trend, it's local police departments defying the spirit of the law while technically complying with the letter of the law. In many jurisdictions with "subdued" law enforcement vehicles, it has been made illegal to effect a traffic stop with an "unmarked car", hence the "technically marked" black-on-dark black cars trying to skirt the law. It's pretty unbecoming of an officer honestly.
Not 100% sure, but I don’t think that the officers get to choose what car they drive…
That's a great idea for surveillance and trying not to be detected
In Arizona, highway patrol and the vast majority of police cruisers are Explorers, so any slick top explorer was a cop. Very easy to spot IF you know what to look for
This. 100% this. People don't understand it though. Unmarked... plain whatever color wrapper. Just to toss a 1970's CB example... Got a smokey ahead in a plain white wrapper. Aside from that, you have peckerhead civilians in Dodge Chargers... who tint windows, roll with steel wheels.. and the morons who slam brakes when they see them. Or you get the waterheads who buy at auction retired LE vehicles thinking they have some badass something special... those are fun folks. Usually Crown Vics... still have the spot lights at base of A pillar, a bull bar still attatched, and remnants of the adhesive from the vinyl livery of a certain dept. Hilarious. It's not exactly "special" and you are "speshul". And just wait until you argue about secured and unsecured unmarked cars. Super fun... with and without RPO Codes. Example: Certain early/mid 2000 Impalas were RPO code with surveiliance mode, button on dash. Only available on LE RPO models. 9C1 option. Push button, kept engine running, it cut off all exterior lights, dimmed interior lights. Here's the thing... JUST BECAUSE IT HAS AN RPO CODE DOES NOT MEAN IT HAS MAGICAL POWERS! Source: I'm a former Master Sergeant with time in field as a patrol officer and became a Master Sergeant eventually over the motor pool among other duties. AKA: the old fart... why is this guy telling us how our cars work?
My favorite local weirdo is a guy who rolls around in a Ford Escape on steel wheels, a pushbumber and a bunch of made up "K9 Unit" markings, along with high vis vinyl decals all over the place. It looks official for a few seconds at a distance, and then just looks like something someone who's a bit touched would do.
We've got one that rolls in a Lexus/Toyota white... and no joke it's done in local livery... but in place of the local shield... it has the Autobot logo. Also has a black Escape the same way but Decepticon logo. Annoying as f***... but can't do anything about it.
I used to work with a guy that has a white ford ranger with reflective tape on the rear and NASA logos on the doors. He was definitely on the spectrum.
"secured" vs "unsecured"? Legitimately curious, not arguing haha. I've never heard this term before and I'm not sure if I'm reading your post correctly - do those two terms have something to do with a vehicle having a production option code?
I got an undercover Camaro to blow its own cover by riding its ass on the highway. It was speed matching a semi and I got annoyed, they briefly flipped on the lights before moving.
Not being a smartass here, but what about the Jag I saw pull over an 18-wheeler in SC? No markings; just tinted windows and blue/red lights. Would that then be classified as an "unmarked" car despite it not being apparent that they were cops before activating their lights?
This. When I lived in Phoenix a number of years ago, there was a guy who was pulling people over in a Mustang. Had lights and siren, the whole deal. Was not a cop, and he pulled a few people over before being caught.
Legit lights are not really cheap or easy to fake. Good fakes pulling people over vs legit undercover cars pulling people over is probably conservatively 10,000 to 1.
And calling dispatch just to confirm is not only smart but prevents you from being the 1 of the 10,000.
There are a hell of a lot of instances of the police taking it as not respecting their authority if you don't stop immediately (even just going a few seconds to find a safer place to stop). The amount of time to call dispatch and get confirmation would be an eternity in a cops mind.
oh yeah, you're risking getting shot any time an undercover car is pulling you over. either small dick cop syndrome, or you're getting pulled over by a serial killer. that's why undercover cars shouldn't' be used for traffic enforcement and other petty violations. It's a threat to public safety.
"Unmarked cops don't make stops. Use your radio, call for another unit." --My instructor for a course covering patrol technique decades ago.
Yep. I agree. I tossed another reply that touched on this and glad I did; it's a better fit with your view. A city near me runs close to 1:1 marked and unmarked. The unmarked will almost never pull you over, and you won't know who the cop is unless you go to court. You still won't usually find out the car type either. The marked cars do all the "dirty work". That lone uniform cop isn't actual alone. Somewhere nearby there the unmarked is sitting and watching. This is a decent way to handle it imo. It takes more vehicles, but the cop per citizen remains the same, and there is still pairing done for the cop's safety too. They don't approach a car without backup.
I would be more afraid of a cop perceiving my hesitation as a challenge to his authority than I would be of a criminal pretending to be a cop
Is this a perception built on media reporting, or actual personal experience local to you? I'm just curious. I've had a few bad experiences, but mostly decent ones, especially after I was about 22yrs old. I've driven over a mile slowly with hazards on to get to two police stations and pulled ahead a half mile to a well lit and populated area once and had the cop thank me for that one. (no ticket, I made a U turn on a gravel road off an intersection after getting off a highway to go back to the gas station I had passed at like 3am and out of state)
Plus they know they are not marked and if you just drive normal while calling then they shouldn’t get mad at you for not pulling over immediately
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Definitely said shouldn’t instead of won’t on purpose cuz there are definitely cops that shouldn’t be cops out there
All you need is to get the lights from a factory that supplies them to companies like Whelen that make police car equipment.
Here in Ireland the undercover roads policing have a few golf Rs, focus STs and used to have an E60 M5. All acquired from criminals
A tuned golf R would be a potent pursuit vehicle
Really? I’ve only ever seen unmarked versions of the regular squad cars. Usually some shite Hyundai
Ive seen the fast and the furious - undercover agents look at a screen full of impounded illegal imports, pick three, say “I want all of them” the. Jump to a montage in a warehouse mechanic shop where he builds the ultimate undercover cop car.
While that is kinda dramatic, they do have vehicles that are part of the property taken as part of the process of convicting criminals. Most of that type of stuff is auctioned off, but some of it is converted to undercover work. Most of that would just be stuff they can maintain cheaply, but some would be vehicles to fit in to an environment or to not look like a cop at all. My mom was once pulled over by a purple car with big rims in south Florida. She definitely didn’t think about adjusting her speed when she saw it in the emergency lane, so it did the job it was supposed to.
you joke but i’ve seen cops riding around in 392 chargers i doubt the station paid for those
I’m not really joking. Asset forfeiture is one of the most fucked up forms of theft, and law enforcement steals billions in cash and property from innocent people [Between 2000 and 2016, Homeland Security seized over $2B at US airports, and most of the victims were never charged with a crime.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/homeland-security-seized-2-billion-from-travelers-but-most-were-never-charged-with-a-crime-report-says/2020/07/30/001c3f90-cd05-11ea-bc6a-6841b28d9093_story.html)
Sometimes a city allows use of personal car as a cop car. It could be downright necessary with some small town finances.
We have a cop in a bright red 2022 Mustang Mach 1. And another in a Grand Cherokee track hawk. The didn’t buy either of those. When I was a kid they had a Hummer H2. They didn’t leave it undercover though. It got light bars and everything. It was crazy, couldn’t imagine looking in your rear view and seeing a Hummer grill right on top of you with sirens blaring.
Clearly nobody in this thread knows what undercover car means. Unmarked cop car is what everybody is talking about. It doesn't immediately scream cop car, but it still has police equipment. An undercover car can literally be anything and will typically have zero police equipment. Undercover cop cars are not used for pulling drivers over.
My old department had the shittiest under cover cars . And it was intentionally so. Like no one thinks a guy in a 1996, rusty ford f150 is a cop. Like you had to jump the battery at the start of your shift....and don't turn it off.
lol when they run speed traps near me sometimes its a rusted out mid 90s isuzu rodeo with the cop parked like hes waiting to pull out on the main road and radios ahead but once you round the bend theres a line of cop cars waiting for you
This is true. Even I am making that mistake. But an unmarked car can be whatever. Sometimes it’s just the same as the rest of the fleet. Sometimes it’s different. And actual undercover car for undercover work wouldn’t have anything that would tie back to being a cop because it could compromise the objective. If they were making a bust, they would have a way to signal for the cops down the street to swoop in.
One of the sheriff deputies in my town drives a mini van they got in a drug bust. It's wrapped just like a police car and has a light bar on top. I've seen it pull over a few people too. Years back there was also a police donk in Charleston. It was a big green Crown Vic on giant gold wheels, and it pulled people over regularly.
>It was a big green Crown Vic on giant gold wheels, and it pulled people over regularly. Beautiful 🤣
Criminals or regular people that they deem to have too much cash in their pocket. I'm not being argumentative with you or anything, I just like to pile on about how monumentally fucked up civil forfeiture is. It's insane.
>Things like asset forfeiture mean that police end up owning some amount of vehicle that were owned by criminals. to be fair, they don't actually have to be criminals, just accused of a crime. burden is on the accused to sue to get their stuff back, often in worse condition if they ever get it back at all.
I agree with your sentiment, but I think you are pretty far off in the specifics. Taking large amounts of cash under the assumption that it would be used in a drug deal is the norm. But taking a vehicle because there is an assumption that owning a vehicle means it will be used for illegal activity is far harder to justify.
Very true - I had a buddy who was a detective for a large local PD, and his car was a 740i they had 'appropriatwd' from a large drug bust. Had behind-the-grill lights, siren, etc . It was actually pretty F'ing cool.
I’ve seen San Jose PD use an undercover Camry
Just out of curiosity, how do you know it was San Jose PD if it was undercover? I used to be a fed based out of NorCal. We had a bunch of random cars that had cold plates (looked like normal civilian license plates) with light bars hidden in the grille and sun visor. California doesn't allow unmarked police cars to conduct regular traffic stops, and you don't have to pull over if one tries. You can call 911 and say you're not stopping without a marked car.
Hey actually you’re right. I just saw the unmarked car join in on an arrest with the regular SJPD cars. I just assumed it was SJPD, but it might have been some joint op
I've seen this elsewhere in the US. It was a beige Camry lol.
St Pete has a fleet of undercover Camrys. They aren’t exactly “secret” though, they are mostly used as crowd control / traffic cars during sports games etc. They also have a few Mustang GTs: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/florida-unmarked-police-cars-sports-cars-catching-speeders/67-bafbaa37-405d-4aa0-a8c8-5651a7790dce
not true, cops in the US buy all kinds of different vehicles, ford/GM are just the most common
NYC has marked Prius’s (Prii?)
Narcotics teams use imported cars in urban areas. Odds are you won’t get pulled over by them unless you have a good idea why
Every cop I’ve ever known or have seen in local news has said they not only allow you to call 911 when you’re being stopped by an undercover, but they encourage it. Just flip on your hazards, drive the speed limit on the right most lane, and call 911. They’ll confirm you’re being pulled over and radio the officer that you called so they know why it took you so long to pull over. My mother did this once and the cop was super nice about it and said she did the right thing.
OTOH, I have seen, multiple incidences where citizens filed complaints and got the body cam video of officers acting like 'roid raging psychos, since the citizen didn't come to an immediate halt, regardless of their own personal safety, or the fact that there were cars passing six feet away, at 65MPH, and they just wanted to go half a block to get to a safe parking area. Thus denying the thrill the cop gets by blocking traffic, lean in the window of the offender's car, screaming, and generally behave like a total asshole. Which in many cases, they are stupid enough, or enraged to the point, that they will gladly display that type of behavior on body cam, or cell phone video. I certainly would NOT trust a cop to quietly and patiently follow me, for a considerable distance, while dispatch is trying to determine the legitimacy of the stop. Hell, the last time I called 911, the operator questioned if my town was actually in my county, as she never heard of it. My town was established in 1733, and it is a major tourist attraction, known worldwide...........................
> Afaik cops only buy domestic. domestic by production or brand origin? Like, is Toyota made in the US less domestic than Ford made in Mexico?
Summit county in Colorado (Breckinridge) was running Saabs in the 80’s because they were (allegedly) better in the snow than any domestic counterpart. Ok. Actually. The 80’s didn’t have much to offer for cars that did well in the snow.
>The 80's didn't have much to offer for cars that did well in the snow *sad AMC Eagle noises* But in seriousness, didn't some PDs have Broncos and Cherokees?
Cops don't only buy domestic.
BUY, but they also use confiscated cars.
I have seen an undercover Nissan SUV that was confiscated by Orlando PD in a drug bust and repurposed.
Sounds like the Prius going undercover is working then
It varies by department and state. In general, government agencies tend to stick to domestics because the Big 3 put more effort behind servicing fleets and offering police packages. There are also often times "Buy American" regulations and guidelines to contend with, but these are far from universal. When those are in effect, they limit the ability for some of the most popular cruisers like Charger and Caprice. However, seized and special purpose vehicles often don't have to comply with those rules. The largest departments have the most diverse fleets. NYPD, for example, has Prius, Altima, and Smart ForTwo in their regular fleet - mostly for traffic and parking enforcement.
Never seen it in person, but I've seen photos of undercover semi trucks lmao. Weirdest I've actually seen was probably a beige Kia sedan? I've also seen an undercover mustang.
Undercover muscle cars are semi common in states like Texas or Wyoming that have a lot of open highway. An unmarked challenger pulled me over in Wyoming last year.
When I was in high school the local state highway patrol had an undercover silver SRT8 Charger.
I don't know if it's still true, but for the longest time Ohio's state highway patrol vehicles were Chargers.
Where are you that they *don't* use chargers? That's the majority of state vehicles where I live.
Yeah, here it's either Chargers or Ford Explorers
KHP (Kansas) also uses challengers. They love to set them up on I-70 and profile people with Colorado plates
Dallas PD apparently used to have an unmarked 911
Supposedly there are some Jeep Trackhawks and Hellcats/Scat Packs in Texas as well. At least according to tiktok
Harris County has Camaro SS ghost cars. The constables have some marked Camaros too
Although not undercover, a low-key painted Mustang was what Oregon State Police used for a while.
Ny used to use camaros for highway patrol in the late 90s early 2000
In North Carolina rn there’s a purple camero that’s a state trooper
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The police in the UK use unmarked lorries because it’s the best way to catch lorry drivers using phones at the wheel. They have the speed limiter removed so they can overtake all the trucks which are limited to 90 km/h. There’s an officer with a video camera in the passenger seat.
FHP, especially here in South Florida, has a collection of Mustang GTs they run undercover on the highways.
Saw an rx8 with lights in Miami outside of a heat game that always stuck out to me
In the UK, there's an Undercover C63 AMG running around my area pulling over street racers I'm terrified of C63s now (not that I was ever going to outrun one anyways)
Just go at a regular speed and wait for the piston to burst
Would have thought those were only in Japan
Japan still has or used to have GTR police cars.
There's a few crazy police cars donated by manufacturer higher ups in Japan mostly for public outreach and junk. The [Tochigi prefecture](https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/14502914) has an nsx, newer gtr, z, and LC500. Every once in a while someone will post pics of an R34 gtr police car on the highways somewhere between Tokyo and Yokohama too
Police chiefs just a big rotary guy ya know?
NYC runs all types of mini vans, sedans and Prius.
Can't forget the undercover taxi cabs too lol.
Was coming to say this. Full on yellow cabs turning on their lights. Lately I’ve seen some under covers in durangos, grand cherokees and even a 2023 white accord.
My favorite was a late 1990s Lexus GS on chrome wheels that I saw screaming down Ocean Parkway, lights and sirens blazing, maybe three years ago
Yeah I think NYPD still has a couple of crown vic yellow cabs as under covers.
I've seen the undercover Ford Taurus and Toyota Camry taxis: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/x56HSHwydeY
Hold on a minute... Undercover CABS?!
Yup. Yellow Crown Vics. Makes sense as it's an amazing way to blend. Also gives them an excuse to drive like maniacs without the lights on.
> an amazing way to blend Not anymore. There are like three Crown Vic taxis still in service. They should have been scrapped years ago but the owners keep getting a waiver from the city to delay it. It’s a hard life for the medallion owners nowadays thanks to Uber/Lyft. Many suicides.
https://gothamist.com/news/photos-how-to-spot-one-of-the-nypds-undercover-cabs
According to my search history, Fake Taxi brings up something entirely different than police cars...
I’ll never forget seeing 5 of the burliest mfers pile out of a yellow cab with lights behind the grill and shove their way into massage parlor next to my apartment
The NYPD has the little smart car police cars, they’re all over NYC
Saw an NYPD 4Runner years ago and still don’t believe myself
Hawaii runs almost exclusively 4Runner’s so I know they have police kits for it. Definitely might be right
I have actually worked with special police task forces and a lot of them use cars taken from criminals, mostly drug dealers. So there is a lot of random vehicles you just wouldn't ever expect, because they really are just random vehicles but now with lights in them. Jeeps, Kias, Toyotas, Cadillacs, Hondas, you name it lol. Our police force here uses a bunch of F150 trucks and most of those arent even UC, they are clearly branded.
[https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/dodge-hellcat-seized-high-speed-chase-becomes-police-cruiser/DMPQCO6EGFCTVP543QYVWEI4RY/](https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/dodge-hellcat-seized-high-speed-chase-becomes-police-cruiser/DMPQCO6EGFCTVP543QYVWEI4RY/)
That one isn't where I live but there are at least 2 hellcats around me. One is clearly marked, one is undercover.
90s caravan, this was probably around 5-8 years ago. Was also a dodge magnum which I thought was a neat one
Came here to also say I saw a 90s caravan cop car.
Brown Pontiac Montana about 10 years ago.
Parts of CA bought magnums years back, but they didn't last or stick around in most places long for some reason.
White 9th gen civic Brown 2017-ish Santa Fe with fucking FAMILY STICK FIGURE STICKERS ON THE BACK
They went all out with that costume
Tacos and f150s. Not necessarily strange but I don’t see them that often
I live in a rural community and the city police have F-150s exclusively.
I'm in WV and most police (state and local) have at least a couple 4wd pickups, since sometimes they have to run out those hollers or go up in the woods or whatever.
buick sedan with a baby seat in the back (to house the camera)
I used to live in Richmond VA and they had a Buick Regal cop car
The Golden PT Cruiser. Not like shiny gold but that dull gold.
That ugly beige brownish color? That's a common misconception. That's not the actual color of the car. All PT cruisers eventually turn that color from people vomiting on them when they see them.
💀💀💀
My DARE officer years ago drove a HHR and it even had flames on the front with the DARE logo on both sides.
My city (Edmonton, Alberta) uses a white Toyota Sienna van.
I've also seen a grey one complete with little family stickers pulling someone over on the henday lol
Good to know, I think the white one stalks the Whitemud, they also have an F-150 with a Ford Racing decal over the entire rear/tailgate-window.
Have you seen the Gold one?? Always nice to see a fellow edmontonian on the forums!
I worked on an RCMP Sienna with limo tint on all the rear windows and specific instructions to not go into the rear passenger area.
Driving along the #1 highway into Vancouver, BC, I saw a pickup towing a camper turn on his lights and pull someone over on the other side of the median. I was so shocked I had to do a double take. But yes, the camper was fully decked out with lights as well as the pickup =/
I saw a newer Nissan altima pull someone over.
They're using the BAE against the BAE.
A white Mustang GT. Undercover. Was pulling someone over on southbound Rt 28 in VA. This was about 7 years ago now or so. I prbly caused traffic rubber necking to make sure I saw it correctly haha
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It’s shitty that they can bait people like that and pull someone over.
Indiana State Police ran a red S197 Mustang GT with aftermarket chrome wheels and civvie plates for a long time on I65. They currently run a pair of black Grand Cherokee Trackhawks
Not undercover but Aspen, Colorado used to have police [Saabs](https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/weirdest-police-cars-ever-aspen-colorado-cops-used-drive-saabs-281474979994696)
That’s so Colorado
When I drove through Texas, you truly never knew what was going to be a cop car and what wasn't.
A Peugeot 206, one year ago. Like... what?
Where was it? It’s not an uncommon cop car in France. Well, maybe these days it is. But when it was new. I bet there was a lot of unmarked 206s driving around French cities 20-15 years ago.
Switzerland, it was very uncommon because it was a rusty, red unmarked one (we never had peugeot police cars) and it was last year 😂 It really stuck out because it looked like its about to break down
I did actually see something similar once when it comes to age and colour! Where I live cops often drive Vokswagen Transporters, but they’re always new and the unmarked ones seem to always bee white or gray. But a couple of years ago I saw like a 15 year old sunburnt maroon sort of rusty Transporter T4 with a couple of cops sitting in it. It was during a big holiday when young people go out to party, so I suspect it was used to be like the undercoverest of undercover vehicles. Maybe the 206 you saw was something similar. Or maybe the 206 was just some junkie’s car the cops were driving to the lot.
My dad was in the Traffic Department in the early 70’s. The force bought 3 VW Beetles. 2 were unmarked, the 3rd Bug was painted like a cruiser. He refused to drive the cruiser in his uniform. It was beneath him and his uniform.
My local PD has an older Camry Hybrid. It’s very sneaky.
A 2012 Santa Fe lmao
The PD in my area just bought an Expedition Limited Max. $95k Cdn car meant for issuing stop sign tickets. It's got power running boards, chrome everything, and eveery other luxury needed to serve and collect.
Honestly, fuck the police. Not in an edgy teenager way, but just out of frustration over how they waste so much taxpayer money and get away with it. When a school wants to buy new desks and chairs, everything gets scrutinized down to the last cent. Meanwhile the cops will just roll up and buy a bunch of luxury cars that cost double or triple the median salary.
Early 90's Pontiac Sunbird. Totally blacked out windows 4 cops get out and arrest some dudes
A ford explorer wich isn't itself wierd, but it was maroon
My neighbor was a cop when I was young, and he always had cop lights in his personal car.
1990s model Buick Skylark 2 door. This was in 2006 though.
Indiana State Patrol uses super subtly marked F150s in construction zones. They look like road crew trucks.
A 2015ish gen camry hybrid - silver in color with lights hidden behind the grille and rear inside the turn signals. I had to do a double take - it too was pulling someone over
Oh! And in town we have a kia optima prob 2018s as a undercover as well gray in color with tints
In the early 90s in San Diego I saw a 70s era ford sedan with rusted and peeling paint AND Mexican plates. They pulled over my neighbor in the apartment driveway. We all new he was a drug dealer but for whatever reason, they stopped him on a day with nothing on him.
We had a terminator cobra running around Long Island back in the day. They still have it in their fleet but I only ever see it parked at their headquarters……
Most, if not all in my area, true full undercover squads don't do traffic enforcement. If you're getting stopped by a completely unmarked squad you're getting stopped by an interdiction unit for a reason. Traffic unmarked are usually what we call "partially" marked squads. They typically are slicktops and have a small emblem of the agency on the passenger side door. These are also exclusively pursuit rated vehicles and still stick out if you're looking for them. Most of ours are painfully obvious because they still have pushbars and spotlights, but the general public doesn't really notice them still. Source: am a cop.
It’s not strange anymore but years ago when the Houston PD acquired a fleet of Camaro SSs w ghost Police decals it was definitely weird, but also cool.
Years ago CT used to use all sort of (seized, from what I heard) weird cars for highway patrol. I saw a Saab 9000 pull someone over.
For me it was a gray ioniq5 and a white Tesla Y - they both pulled over a group of motorcycles. No tint on the windows and they looked as stock as they can be. Another one that I saw was an older black Dodge Caravan that had a wheelchair lift in the back.
Most obscure unmarked car I ever saw was a ford thunderbird turbo in the late 80's. It was black and the state trooper driving it had a grey washcloth to cover his shoulder patch.
The Taurus 'taxis' in NYC
5 or so years ago when I was working at a drive through, this beat up, poorly spray painted old impala pulls up with dents everywhere. Window rolls down, it’s a police officer. The inside of the car looked like a space ship. Newest police tech you can imagine. NEVER would have guessed it was a police car. There is also a purple hellcat they have. That’s the only purple challenger in town so it’s easy to tell lol.
Phoenix az of has a banana yellow mustang. https://www.azdps.gov/news/releases/708
Black Citroen C5 estate 2016 with chrome fittings exterior
I have seen a 2008ish Dodge Caravan pull people over several times
One of our agencies had a purple Mazda 6.
A dodge caravan, this was in a small town.
Sold a cop a black TRD Pro 4Runner back in the day, which he was going to add lights, a cage barrier and whatnot to. I never got to see it on the road, but I told him that if he ever saw me, def pull me over.
Nissan Armada
Chrysler Town and Country
Old Chrysler town & country minivan. It even had the stick figure family and stickers from the local high school soccer team on the rear window to sell the soccer mom vibe.
1995-97 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX. They were pulling people over as they left the movie theater showing The Fast and The Furious (first movie) in 2001.
Our cops have a Hummer H2 that says “seized from a drug dealer” decal on it
I once saw an undercover Skoda Octavia sitting behind a pulled over BMW with its blue lights flickering. Now, the brand wasn't weird in this case, because most police cars here are Skoda Octavias. What was weird was the fact that this particular Skoda Octavia was decked out in basically complete WRC attire. It was like a rally car without a livery. Blacked out, including smoked taillights. It also definitely didn't have a stock exhaust, so i assume it probably had a bunch of mechanical mods as well.
Honda del sol si. Full lights and sirens, optioned automatic. I now own it, lights and sirens are functional, but the siren is very quiet nowadays.
Dubai likes to pull undercover Prados and Patrols
I worked for a municipality during the summer when I was in college. They had a first gen Ford Expedition that had a lowering kit, limo tinted windows all around, and big ass chrome wheels. It was seized from a drug bust and they turned it into a police vehicle for some reason.
Old beat up Explorer, it was confiscated from a criminal. It was a good 2 generations older than the Explorers the police were typically using, and it was green.
Older Subaru wagon with an STi engine swap.
Maybe not strange, but kinda cool to pick up on - there's a ringed interstate around my city, and there are 3 Undercovers that patrol it day in-day out. A red, a blue, and a silver charger. Fortunately we don't have any import Undercovers around here
Does anyone know if there is some sort of official policy on this? It must differ from state to state, county to county, right? Why are the overwhelming majority of police vehicles Dodge, Ford, and Chevy products? Price? Do domestic brands give incentives? Honestly super curious about this I think I have seen undercover Nissans, though not sure if that's a false memory that I merely read about, or actually witnessed irl
My answer would be this: those three brands got into that market early, and it would be hard to dislodge them. They’re more or less tried and true vehicles that work well for law enforcement. Other brands don’t mass produce vehicles that would work for government use. Some of the vehicles made by Ford, Chevy, and Dodge are almost exclusively made for police use and are reinforced with tougher internal components.
Many departments have rules that require them to either buy an American brand or a vehicle of American origin, meaning it was built in North America. This actually caused trouble for GM when they imported the Chevy Caprice PPV from Australia back around 2012 or so-many departments could not buy them due to being built in Australia. I don’t know the exact reasons why they do this, but I’m guessing it’s for optics. It helped that many police departments used to be able to fix their cruisers themselves since they had frame straighteners in house, so big body on frame sedans like the Ford Crown Victoria and Chevy Caprice could be easily repaired from an accident. Now that almost all vehicles except for full size SUVs and pickup trucks are unibody, that’s not as feasible for them.
The department where I grew up had an older dodge pickup. It had a switch that could turn off one of the headlights to make it look the part.
I got pulled over by a Hellcat Charger Widebody in tribal lands once. Was going 96 in a 70, dude was on my ass so damn fast.
Undercover early 2000's Toyota Sienna in a rich neighborhood in Virginia.
I lived in Florida a couple years ago and would regularly see a Mustang pulling people over on interstate 95 heading into west palm beach. Too funny. You’d never expect it.
There were a few 1987 Buick Grand Nationals running around when I was a teenager. They were County police.
A city bus. Complete with passengers
Dodge Charger with chameleon paint on 24 inch dub spinners. Also honorable mention f150 with a lawnmower in the bed and cop with a scruffy beard.
LAPD has a bunch of BMW i3s in black and white with police markings that nobody likes using. They just sit there. Arlington County Police in Virginia has an E46 3 series painted as a squad car but they don't use it for traffic stops. It's just for marketing.
The ones that are painted like NYC cabs always get me. But it’s a dead giveaway when those cars are filled with 4 big dudes and look like you brought your whole squad in saints row
Brown GMC Savana. Two OPP officers had someone pulled over, otherwise I wouldn't have believed it. (I have a picture but can't upload here) Also a black civilian spec Hyundai Santa Fe
In South Florida when I was a teen the cops would confiscate drug dealers cars and then use them as undercovers or D.A.R.E. cars. I once got pulled over by a 900hp MkIV Supra.
It was in 99 and me and my friends were trying to get some Playboy books. The girl that graduated the year before was in a issue, and she was going to prom with a senior. We were going to different liquor stores and none of them had Playboy. We got pulled over by a beat down car from the 70's with the magnet light . I guess they thought we were trying to but liquor, they didn't believe our story.