[thechat] Cop cars

[Luther, Ron]

Madhu Menon asked:

>>What's the make of the standard cop cars in USA that they show on TV shows? 
>>And are different types of cars used in different states?


Hi Madhu,


The ones they use on TV? Or the ones they drive on the street?

I think the ones used on TV depend on what show and what network you are 
watching.  [I believe it's kinda like an athletic shoe endorsement contract 
or a movie/tv product placement deal.] e.g. If the network/show has cut a
deal with General Motors, then you are likely to see a Chevy Caprice. If 
they have a deal with Ford you might see a Ford Crown Victoria.

<tangent>
The old 'Bewitched' TV show was sponsored by Chevrolet ... so anytime 
you ever saw anybody in a car in that show ... it was a brand new Chevy.
</tangent>

The ones they drive on the street vary somewhat from jurisdiction to 
jurisdiction.  However, in the US, it's normally a large vehicle. Also, 
the car manufacturers only offer 'police packages' on certain models ... 
so the choice for a general purpose cop car is somewhat limited.

That said, there are a large variety of cop cars on the street ... and 
cop suvs ... and cop minivans ... and cop pickup trucks ... and cop 
motorcycles of various makes as well.  Heck, there are even some cop 
jeeps!  [Although my understanding is that the motorcycle cops have to 
buy their own bikes - which may account for some of the variety there.]

There are also a number of 'specialty' cop cars ... a large metropolitan 
police force may 'do up' a corvette as a cop car that they drive out to 
schools to impress the kids when they do their "don't do drug" lectures. 
Some police forces also 'do up' race cars that they take out to the drag 
strips to race against the 'fast & furious' crowd to try to impart a "race 
at the track - not on the street" kind of message.

Here's a cop race car from Green Bay, Wisconsin:
http://www.gbpolice.org/BeatTheHeat.html

A cop dragster:
http://www.saanichpolice.ca/community/dragcar.htm

A Canadien cop dragster:
http://policecanada.ca/stratford04.jpg

Lotta variety ... but most are kinda boring ... not at all like the old 
Plymouths and Chryslers from the 50's.  ;-)

... http://www.copcar.com/ is kind of a fun site and may have a few 'vintage' 
cop car pix.

For our neighbors up North, some Canadien police cars (even a PT Cruiser!):
http://policecanada.ca/ontarioS.html


Enjoy,

RonL.
(My dad bought a used Plymouth Fury 'intercepter' cop car when I was in high 
school. {'Intercepters' were/are extra fast cop cars.} Large V8 - dual 
quad.  It could probably pass anything but a gas station ... but I was too 
afraid to really get on that bugger ... the damn thing had to weigh 3 
tons!  Seriously.  You take that thing around a corner at *modest* speeds 
and you were afraid the tires were going to fall off the rims.  I've 
never driven any other car that heavy. Still - if I ever _need_ to hit a 
telephone pole ... that would be the car to do it in!)