[ybbiz34]

We've got Mustangs that hang around 465.

[TK-421]

Unmarked F350s, totally murdered out Chargers, but still mostly Crown Vics with the LEDs and front guards

[E90SLAM]

I remember I saw some old Camaro's on FL Turnpike back in 2005....

[Phil G]

Originally Posted by Glacked

Phil, did you guys take 20/59 down to 43 yesterday? If so, you drove right by me. That is, if your vehicle is the on in you avatar. Good to finally see a local-ish poster.

Oh, and pretty much anything you see on the road other than a CVPI, Charger, Tahoe or Durango is a seized vehicle. We've got a few in our fleet right now. We would normally just send them to auction but they've been altered with compartments that make it more of a pain than is affordable to sell it to Joe Public. In Tuscaloosa, you'll see some Merc SUVs around. They are part of a high mileage test program MB does with various government and non-profit agencies in the area. With the current state of the auto industry, I'd think we'd see them die off sooner rather than later.

Yeah, that is my car in my avatar (pic is from when I did ED, but I still have the Euro Zoll tag on the front, and I have a Barber Motorsports tag on the back). And yes, I did take 20/59 for a VERY short period of time. In Tuscaloosa, I got off McFarland Blvd onto 20/59 then drove on it for about a mile to AL-69. I always take 69 south down to where it merges with 43 in Thomasville when I go down to Mobile because it's much faster. So if you saw me on 20/59 in that short amount of time I was on it in Tuscaloosa, that was me! Funny coincidence, good to see you here as well!

I have seen some of the Merc. SUVs around in Tuscaloosa. Speaking of seized vehicles, Tuscaloosa PD has some of the most RANDOM marked cars. Some of these include an old 90's Mercury Cougar, a recent model Toyota Corolla, a Ford LTD, and some others I'm not thinking of. I'm guessing these are seized vehicles as well?

[Tondtar]

Be thankful you don't leave in Italy

[Glacked]

They are very random with their vehicles. I think those are all purchased outright. Mostly, the seized stuff gets rolled to auction. We get the occasional vehicle so modified by smugglers it can't be sold - so we'll use it till it dies.

It must not have been you. I was sitting in the median down near the 64mm - where I usually work, cough cough.

Nice to meet a local on here, as well.

[TwinTurboXI]

Originally Posted by chinoxs203

The thing about these unmarked cars is now any physco can pretend to be cop, buy some lights and pull over some random unsuspecting person and then who knows....

Very true, there is some number like *xx that you can call on your cell phone anytime you get pulled over by an "undercover" cop car. And apparently it gets in contact with the local police dispatch. Most useful for women but i dont need a gun pulled in my face from someone impersonating an officer either. Anyone know that number to dial?

[Glacked]

We just tell folks to call 911 if they think it's fake - there may be a local number set up for it in your area. Also, cut on your hazards and drive to a well lit, populated area. Hazards just let us know you've seen us. I've had a few folks do that on my stops.

[mtla4]

They have Sonata's over here.

[solefald]

i dont think they are allowed to pull you over in a completely un-marked car in CA, but they started moving light bars from the top of the roof and place them inside the car instead...

[AjzRide]

Originally Posted by JeepJeep

Nice to see the government supporting the American economy.

This logic is hideously stupid, buy unmarked cars so that you can get more tickets to pay for the cars. Hmm, lets see, average ticket is $200, and im guessing the G35's are around $30,000, so to pay for each and every single one of those cars the cop has to give out 150 tickets each. Assuming that a decent sized fleet means 6-7, thats 900-1050 tickets just to cover the whole cost.

Something tells me that 1,000 tickets is a little extreme for a year, but I dunno for sure.

I guess you haven't seen our state troopers. I would say a trooper averages 3 tickets per hour, say he is actually writing tickets for 6 hours a day, that is 18 tickets per day, would only take him two working weeks to get up to 180. Thats a good bit more than the 150 per trooper car you calculated.

[Phil G]

Originally Posted by Glacked

It must not have been you. I was sitting in the median down near the 64mm - where I usually work, cough cough.

Haha, duly noted . Although nowadays even if I wanted to speed I would probably just miss you only to be pulled over several miles down the road anyway! I feel like North/Central Alabama is fairly well patrolled, especially more so than in the past. South Alabama, especially along I-65 between Montgomery and Mobile, feels like a VERY different story though, although that stretch also is pretty sparsely populated.

Thanks for the advice as far as turning on the hazard lights! I'll keep that in mind if I see some extra suspicious car pulling me over.....no need to get held at gunpoint by someone impersonating an officer!

EDIT: By the way, it just hit me, I think I remember seeing you post in a thread about Alabama football back close to the end of the season, Roll Tide! (coming from a proud Bama grad student )

[Salco3]

Originally Posted by Phil G

Thanks for the advice as far as turning on the hazard lights! I'll keep that in mind if I see some extra suspicious car pulling me over.....no need to get held at gunpoint by someone impersonating an officer!

That happend in Mobile a couple years ago and the dude that was doing it was robbing and assaulting women after he pulled them over. They finally got him, he had a fake badge and a gun and was driving a crown vic with fake lights when they caught him.

It really makes me worry when my wife is traveling by herself. I tell her to pull off in a crowded area so she has witnesses if anything suspicious happends.

[FStop7]

Originally Posted by solefald

i dont think they are allowed to pull you over in a completely un-marked car in CA, but they started moving light bars from the top of the roof and place them inside the car instead...

yeah in some states it's definitely not legal, because of carjackers who impersonate cops doing traffic stops in unmarked cars. And you're also allowed to pull over to a safe, well-lit location and call 911 in order to confirm the person who pulled you over really is a cop. Some of these carjackers had full uniforms, and some would dress in suits claiming to be detectives.

[lib]

I just love the cop out here that hides behind a bush at the bottom of a hill that drops >200' in 1/3 of a mile. He points laser up the hill and tags anyone that doesn't ride their brakes the whole way down (you're not supposed to engine brake within the city limits).

[jewishcubbiesfan]

Originally Posted by JeepJeep

Nice to see the government supporting the American economy.

This logic is hideously stupid, buy unmarked cars so that you can get more tickets to pay for the cars. Hmm, lets see, average ticket is $200, and im guessing the G35's are around $30,000, so to pay for each and every single one of those cars the cop has to give out 150 tickets each. Assuming that a decent sized fleet means 6-7, thats 900-1050 tickets just to cover the whole cost.

Something tells me that 1,000 tickets is a little extreme for a year, but I dunno for sure.

If they are using 05 and 06 G35's, there is no way they are 30,000 dollars. The crown vics and chargers they use are 22-28K once they have all their equipment in them, so if 30,000 is correct like you say, whats another couple thousand?

Here in Oklahoma, a majority of the OHP cars are paid for by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. All their revenue is generated by tolls, so its really not costing the taxpayer anything. OTA pays for the squad car, and the salary of the officer.

Cars we have around here include all black chargers, a few mercury marauders, new chevy tahoes, impalas, and 1 escalade that was seized from a drug house.

Until 2006, OHP used Chevy Camaro SS.