Thoughts on Coworker ticketed by unmarked/plainclothes officer

[dalesys]

There was a Highway Patrolman here 20 years or so ago who got caught after shooting up his patrol car as it drove off...

The lady he'd pulled over didn't care for the "breathalyzer" he pulled out...

[Deserted]

My brother was a prison guard for a few years some time back, and he told me that one of the supervisors had tricked out his personal vehicles with lights and everything, then would pull people over for speeding. Problem is, in Desert Hell, prison guards are not police. Even if the victim was legitimately speeding, he still wasn't a cop. Told my bro the guy was lucky he didn't get shot.

[raudf]

Ours was worse.. "Blue Light Rapist," was the label the news crews went with. Because of this, most police in the state won't use unmarked cars for traffic stop. In fact, for the longest while, they required at least one door panel be marked and the officer in uniform to do traffic stops. I know my closest town still has those requirements, in fact.

[crazylegs]

We have some unmarked cars that are used by plain clothes officers in the UK but that's more for specialised units than for traffic - RPU tend to be in uniform as wandering in a road with no HV is, frankly, ridiculously dangerous.

[drunkenwildmage]

It depends on the state, in my State (Ohio) last I knew, it was a requirement that a marked unit had to pull you over, and there is some kind of requirement that the markings have to be visible from 500 ft or something in the dark, or otherwise it's considered entrapment.

Not to long ago I had read that in California, it had to be a marked black and white unit to pull you over. In other states on my travels I've seen unmarked units used more then marked, and I remember back in the 90s that the Connecticut 'marked' state units was nothing more then Crown Victorias in some random factory color, with a light bar on top that had 'State Police' written across an area on front of the light bar

[wolfie]

Don't know if we still have them, but a few years back Ontario had "stealth cruisers". The lights were mounted internally, and the graphics on the side were a semi-transparent retroreflective film - in normal daylight, you had to look closely, but at night if you shone a light on them they stood out like a sore thumb.

[Null Requiem]

Don't know if we still have them, but a few years back Ontario had "stealth cruisers". The lights were mounted internally, and the graphics on the side were a semi-transparent retroreflective film - in normal daylight, you had to look closely, but at night if you shone a light on them they stood out like a sore thumb.

Those are still around, and they've added stealth minivans, suvs, and such to the fleet as well.

[wagegoth]

Not to long ago I had read that in California, it had to be a marked black and white unit to pull you over.

California is sneakier. They use marked solid white cars, and for a while they were using marked metallic tan cars. The cars are marked on the doors, but the lights are concealed and the solid color fools drivers.

[Javarod]

Don't know if we still have them, but a few years back Ontario had "stealth cruisers". The lights were mounted internally, and the graphics on the side were a semi-transparent retroreflective film - in normal daylight, you had to look closely, but at night if you shone a light on them they stood out like a sore thumb.

Also known as flat tops due to the lack of light bars. Very popular, more common than unmarked units as they're nearly as good at sneaking up on people, without the downside of needing to prove that you're a cop.

[protege]

Also known as flat tops due to the lack of light bars.

I've seen a couple of those. My borough has at least one, that has the lights built into the roof, just behind the windshield. But, it's pretty obvious it's a police car. For one, the spotlight on the driver's side pillar gives it away. So does the huge antenna on the trunk, and the cheap-looking painted steel wheels and tiny chrome hubcaps. What can I say, other than I've built a couple of cruiser models

[LillFilly]

She's currently waiting for her citation so she can arrange a court date with the magistrate.

She said he did include his information on the ticket; so why he didn't want to verbally tell her is beyond me.

With any luck, he wont show up at court and it will get thrown out.

[Javarod]

I've seen a couple of those. My borough has at least one, that has the lights built into the roof, just behind the windshield. But, it's pretty obvious it's a police car. For one, the spotlight on the driver's side pillar gives it away. So does the huge antenna on the trunk, and the cheap-looking painted steel wheels and tiny chrome hubcaps. What can I say, other than I've built a couple of cruiser models

That's interesting, can't say i've ever seen lights built into the roof except on the proposed Carbon Motors car. Typically its your typical police sedan, sans light bar and often sans push bar. Yep, still has the spotlight, but when its coming up behind you, its easy to miss the spotlight, even the push bar can be overlooked ifn there's no equipment on it (lights and siren are often mounted there, without, it blends in with the grill if its black).

[Krivak]

In our town, we have mostly chargers with a few vics. The stealth cruisers are a white and red charger. (though they have more, those are the ones ive seen the most) They have the Lightbar built into the roof behind the windshield with a spotlight and grill lights for the white charger, and the red one seems to be a detective or senior officer, as it has the removable lights that mount on the visor.

[Kit-Ginevra]

She's currently waiting for her citation so she can arrange a court date with the magistrate.

She said he did include his information on the ticket; so why he didn't want to verbally tell her is beyond me.

With any luck, he wont show up at court and it will get thrown out.

I'd certainly advise going along to court-at least she'll get the opportunity to give her side of the case.If this guy was tootling round in an unmarked car and refused to provide any identification,then it may well get thrown out even if he's there-or at least he'll have to explain what he was doing.

[Cia]

That is if he owns up to it, he could simply say she is lying and never asked to see his ID.