Let me just start off saying this is excluding unmarked cars that are for detective work.

Regular police cruisers that are greys/black with the barely visible “police” on the side. Shouldn’t they be yellows and bright colors?

police are a revenue generator.

Can’t have their known presence actually deterring unsafe behavior. No money in that.

Those are taxis you idiot.

Really . Look at Euro police cars

We have all black units for the specialty goons. I don't understand what the point of it is either, but I think it's just a reward for being a specialty goon. "Oh wow, you got the special car".

This.

*laughs in ghost cruiser*

the lights on top don't give them away?

What do you mean by specialty? I thought the unmarked ones were only supposed to be for under cover work

Some Don’t even have those anymore

Bump

when fully staffed (once every other year) we have a 2-man car that's only purpose is to do 'obs' work. they don't do any regular calls for service, just look for dudes with warrants. idk really, I've never been assigned or expressed interest in it.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2529...7i16384!8i8192

This one always sat here near where I used to live running a speed trap. You can tell it's a cop because of the ramming thing in the front but that's kinda hard to see from far away. Always thought it was egregious that the only marking on the vehicle is on the side you can't see when approaching from this direction

goes to show that being mathcel doesnt make you smart

this

extra points for being heavily indoctrinated

See how do people see that’s not a problem. Who’s that even helping besides creating revenue?

It is pretty funny not gonna lie no cap. I will never forget that one time I saw a cop doing a traffic stop and the cop was driving an old unmarked 2-seater Mazda pickup. Just lol.

Can't speak for every department but the ones I've worked for, these slick tops/unmarked vehicles (and variations) are used by detectives, special investigations, gangs, etc, where they still want lights and sirens to be able to get into pursuit until a marked car can take over, but don't want to be as obvious as a black and white with a raised light bar. Not so much for stakeouts (although sometimes, depending), but when you're going through alleyways in the middle of the night looking down them, it gives you an extra second to look at people/situations before they realize you're a cop car, for example, or allows you to park far away and make it hard to tell you're a cop, get up closer to someone without having them start evasive driving, etc.

And yes, as stupid as it might seem, it's also a status symbol. But not just for the cops, most "good" criminals or gang members will try and BS the average patrol cop, there's not really a level of respect there at all. Show up and make it obvious you're working gangs/etc. and when you have a relationship with the person and it's different. It's also a status symbol in that if these specialized officers are out working a special detail, it lets the public know that so they generally won't get flagged down for other issues like a normal patrol cop would (and should).

It's also cheaper because you don't have to wrap it, if anyone cares about that.Unless you're living in the South or Midwest, the chances of your city getting more than 10% of it's revenue from ticket fines and fees is pretty dang low. There are a few departments scattered around the north east US/DC area, a few in Washington/Oregon, 0 in California, Nevada, Arizona, etc. It's basically a sign you have an outdated PD/city. Most of the fines, even if those cities, go to keeping the courts running and the like, and not directly to the PD, or they're used to fund federal grants/roadways/etc. Basically, unless you're living in a podunk town, the motivation behind a traffic stop is not budgetary.

The idea that "police are a revenue generator" across the board, is misinformed.

Map of cities with more than 10% of their revenue coming from fines and fees here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/u...y-funding.htmlThere's been lots of conflicting studies, but the basic consensus is that more tickets lead to safer driving and less fatalities on the roadway. They're especially good deterrents for people running stop signs in residential zones, etc. I personally RARELY write tickets, but I'll sit on stop signs in residential neighborhoods, and if I'm at certain ones for say an hour, I'll probably get 3-5 groups passing by come talk to me about how much of a problem the speeders in the area are during walks home from school/etc, and how they appreciate the police being there. There's a point.

Also in our downtown area, obviously lots of drunks, and pedestrians, and people driving like idiots even when sober. Having traffic enforcement at places like this increases the quality of life of residents and the safety of everyone.

No one likes paying tickets, I get it, I don't, but they do have uses besides "revenue".

they are very low profile now on the chargers and they don't have door markings. Or the marking are reflective and only show at night.
some do have the gear on the front for ramming cars and a spot light on the doors but those blend in pretty good.


but we have these also in my city which are easier to identify.




personally i don't care.
I drive the speed limit and don't get pulled over anyways.

drive a reasonable speed and they wont bother you

in NY the ticket revenue goes to Albany.
police departments who don't file a certain number of tickets with Albany don't get as much funding.
but it isn't a quota.

always last week of the month cops are out in force pulling people over on the thruways like clockwork.

This