“Are They Cops Or Cowboys?”

Reflections wrote:So, when is it going to be about "racing" and not about speeding?

Never.

Reflections wrote:And this just in.............

I'd imagine that Fantino is piping mad right about now. He makes a big fuss about speeding, blah blah this, blah blah that, and then a half-dozen of his own officers get charged with stunt driving. On top of that, there have been several OPP officers who have wrecked cruisers in the past year. No wonder the overwhelming majority of them seem to be driving the posted speed limit or just under it. Fantino sounded pretty upset over a couple of these incidents, and I'd imagine any officer who banged up a cruiser or got charged with an HTA violation would face his full wrath. But that's just my uninformed, civilian-level take on it...

hwybear wrote:

Bookm wrote: He blows hundreds of thousands of dollars painting cruisers black and white to look meaner and project the image of ZERO TOLERANCE.

This was the best thing that happened to. Moral instantly increased. A B&W is more visible as a white car blended in with so many others. Now a two tone car stands out amongst all vehicles, hence we are see more often than "blending" in. US tourists also immediately identify who we are with a two-tone car.

BTW OPP is not the only two tone cruiser either....Waterloo Regional, St. Thomas, LaSalle have started to switch to blue and white. Windsor PS is a combination black and white with their new graphics pattern.

The decision was also based on a Florida study into cruiser collisons, less collisions occurred with two-tone cars, cars with "barrier graphics" on the rear, and a silhoutted image at night from the side.

Black and white cars are so much safer for the OPP..... Why does the OPP have such large orders for unmarked cars and why are more and more unmarked cars being used for traffic enforcment?

camber wrote:Why does the OPP have such large orders for unmarked cars

Do tell about all this ordering??

why are more and more unmarked cars being used for traffic enforcment?

We all know the people that mysteriously turn into angels when they see a marked unit and then return to their side after.

Our office most recently got our first unmarked police vehicle in about 2 years. It is a non-traditional police vehicle, and it is just like driving a normal vehicle, you see all the "down and dirty" offences that everyone seems to bitch about (ie follow too close, unsafe lane changes, fail to signal, passing off roadway etc..) where it was rare, if at all to see that type of stuff when operating a marked unit.

But I thought you said painting the cars black & white was such a great idea of JF's. Something about making a stronger visual presence out on the road. But now you say stealth is better.. Now I'm all confused again

Stealth = better for traffic units, B&W = better for the rest?

hwybear wrote:Do tell about all this ordering??

The OPP just put a big order in for the last CV's from Ford. A good chunk are unmarked.

hwybear wrote:We all know the people that mysteriously turn into angels when they see a marked unit and then return to their side after.

My point is that umarked cars aren't that visible. Police are most likely to be killed at the side of the road in a collision. Being that Police are most vunerable while parked at the side of a busy road, wouldn't it make sense to use a highly visible car?

hwybear wrote:Our office most recently got our first unmarked police vehicle in about 2 years. It is a non-traditional police vehicle, and it is just like driving a normal vehicle, you see all the "down and dirty" offences that everyone seems to bitch about (ie follow too close, unsafe lane changes, fail to signal, passing off roadway etc..) where it was rare, if at all to see that type of stuff when operating a marked unit.

Yet most unmarked guys I see are stuck doing speed enforcement

camber wrote:My point is that umarked cars aren't that visible. Police are most likely to be killed at the side of the road in a collision. Being that Police are most vunerable while parked at the side of a busy road, wouldn't it make sense to use a highly visible car?

there is a variety of takes on being stopped and visible.

- type of cruiser

- type of decals

- type of lighting

- people are often drawn to the big lights and car (moth to light) and drive even closer.

Almost a darned that you do and darned that you don't approach

Bookm wrote:But I thought you said painting the cars black & white was such a great idea of JF's. Something about making a stronger visual presence out on the road. But now you say stealth is better.. Now I'm all confused again

We always have had unmarked vehicles.

Problem before was that the marked cars blended in with every other white, tan, light coloured vehicle, hence the presence was not seen. Now the B&W stands out amongst light colour and dark colour vehicles and the cruisers are seen, no more or less cruisers, just the colour change and the visibility is noticed.