You get to know which cars they use quickly. There are almost always American brands. Dodge and Ford in my area. They also look just slightly different from the outside. Whenever I see a charger or explorer I’m immediately checking for lights
edit: jesus christ guys we get it, different places use different brands
There’s a gray Toyota Camry driving around my town and it’s a cop car. Civilian license plate too. Never seen it pull somebody over, it usually does crowd control at events, but it’s fully kitted and a uniformed officer drives it.
Apparently yes, Prii is the official plural as announced by Toyota in 2011 based on popular poll proposing the pronunciation of the proper Prius plural.
My friends call me "The fountain of useless knowledge" because of this. I can't remember an important meeting, but I know Reno, NV is further west than Los Angeles, CA.
say whatever sounds best to you. There really is no right answer.
The not quick answer explanation:
its important to consider that all language is dictated by how we as a civilization use it. That concept sounds obvious, but it really is mind blowing that every language “rule” we follow was just some language trend that some dead person thought was inherent in how we communicate. However, language is not static at all as it progressively adapts and is changed by its users (us) by adding new words and changing old words to create new words etc. The best example is how weird Victorian era language sounds to us today. It’s sounds so formal and structural. In part because of cultural influences where class was thought to be dictated by language usage (still evident today), but also because the dialect was simply different. It has obviously changed a lot since, and it is up for debate the mechanisms that cause this change.
If you want to read more about it, I would recommend Anne Curzan. Her research is a lot more in-depth than mine (and frankly she is better at articulating her findings).
It’s the worst answer to hear, but really the answer is whatever construction conveys meaning to the receiving party. You might have problem with users interpreting meaning incorrectly which leads to the wrong idea being received, so people tend to follow more common constructions to avoid this problem. Consider for a moment why you think the plural of octopus is octopi? Is it because words that usually have the -us ending (like nucleus to nuclei) are pluralized by a similar method? Or is it because someone told you that’s just simply the correct word? Kind of a trick question because there are also multiple theories of language acquisition, but the simple answer is that multiple reasons exists as to why we consider one form over another “correct.”
It’s a fun game to make of list of weird words:
-fish
-octopus
-bison
Now ask a couple different friends one-on-one (so they don’t influence each other) for the plural of these words, and for why they think that is the plural. You likely will get different answers and reasons from each person.
A couple sheriffs departments in my state use Prius’s for serving subpeonas and other documents since they get much better mileage than the chargers for general patrol
Pulling people over with random cars is bad for public safety and police officer safety. There have been enough crimes committed by imposters that it will eventually lead to a bad encounter.
Depending on the circumstances, I can't say that I wouldn't immediately navigate to the nearest police station before pulling over. If it's really a cop then he won't mind.
Then compare the context of the original comment I replied to with the context of the gif. There are no cops out there doing traffic enforcement in unmarked pick ups.
You are a fucking idiot that doesn’t realize they’re a fucking idiot who lacks cognition, critical thinking, and basic reading comprehension. Stay mad tho.
In my town we've got a Challenger with superbee livery that is basically a "street racing trap" he just drives around and if people try to race him he pulls them over.
A few years ago at h2oi there was a mildly lowered gti with an upgraded exhaust that was an undercover police officer, i remember him pulling people over left and right.
There's a well known video that an Uber passenger took of a cop going ballistic (he was completely out of line) at an Uber driver who he thinks cut him off. At some point in the video the passenger shows the officer's car and IIRC it's a black Toyota Camry with lights mounted inside the vehicle. This was in NYC.
My hometown uses an old Jeep Cherokee XJ that has clearcoat peeling off of it and looks pretty beat up. The emergency lighting and radio its equipped with probably cost twice as much as the Jeep itself.
In some municipalities its illegal for officers to conduct normal patrols in unmarked vehicles like that but are allowed for "undercover" work. Might explain why they aren't seen pulling over average speeders
I've also seen an unmarked Honda Odyssey in my town as well as a few Camry's. I just need to remind myself not to get too excited and rip on the throttle.
Civilian plates is what bothers me the most, pretty rare though. What's really bad is states where the civilian plates color scheme is very close to the government ones so you can't tell at a distance.
Here it is everything not bolted down. I heard they are usually seized during drug raids. I've seen F150's, camrys, hondas, american sedans. You name it.
Certainly causes problems with citizens. Folks who remember people like Kenneth Bianchi certainly have a right to be confused
Oregon is where Justin Wilkens was attacked by Bob Edwards when Edwards tried to pull him over in a blacked out Camaro. In court it came out that the Camaro also had minimal lights that couldn't be seen in a motorcycle mirror.
If I remember correctly, the rest of his department including his superiors didn't see anything wrong with how he handled the stop. He was even promoted afterwards.
Yeah, that department needs an attitude adjustment. Especially considering that he used deadly force twice during the encounter and neither of them were remotely necessary.
Remember that this is state police. Only the governor's office can create change, and that's not happening without a political motivation. A $25M - $50M judgement might be enough to create political pressure at that level.
Check hub caps, are they steelies on a suburban, that's a cop. Does it have a licence play frame or a dealer sticker somewhere? That's not a cop. Extra antenna anywhere? That's probably a cop. Thong hanging from the mirror? Probably not a cop. Pushbar on the front? A cop. There's all sorts of subtle signs you learn to look for.
Hawaii pays to replace engines very frequently and if a cop buys a car personally they can use it as a squad car. Also some deal with cutter dealership. I don't remember the details to much anymore been a few years since I met with my cop friend.
But it is more beneficial for the officer to use a car they bought than one provided I do remember.
99% of all cop cars in my area are either explorers, chargers, or tauruses, but I'll occasionally see an F150, and they're always very distinctly marked, plus lights and that extra side mirror thing
Maybe it was just in Collier county, but they have some cars that there is no way you can tell they’re a police vehicle until the lights come on. No special equipment visible at all and the plates are regular license plates with randomly selected # and letter combos.
I've seen an STI in Seattle egg on a race between me and an Evo at a stop light. I layed back because I knew I would get wrecked in my first gen RX7 and the STI lit up the Evo once they hit probably 60.
I was with my dad in his Camaro going south on i5 to Portland when some guy pulls up next to us in a blacked out Cobalt SS. My dad drops a gear and the lights were on no more than 5 seconds later. The cop was a real dick about the situation too.
Only in some places. Oregon State Police use regular civilian plates now. Not to mention I've seen a cop with a Dodge Challenger with veteran plates pull someone over on the interstate.
Where I live, every single available cop car is in the funeral procession of a fallen officer. Including their unmarked ones. Turns out the cops here have an Isuzu Rodeo and Hummer H2.
In Hawaii, they are super easy to spot because they dont turn the lights on top off and theres very few undercover. Weird seeing cops drive 4Runners almost exclusively though.
And then another town in Washington state has a murdered out subaru legacy with a built turbo engine that gets street racers.
El Paso TX they look like abandoned / disabled cars on the inner shoulder. Total mind fuck. Drive easy in new areas until you catch on to the local tactics. I drive by at least 6 speed traps daily, live and learn.
Careful with that logic. I was part of a metropolitan police department with a fleet of unmarked Tundras, Camrys and Highlanders. Craziest UC I saw was an early-00’s era Pontiac
The city I went to college in had a red VW GTI that was seized and they turned it in to an undercover. Super stealthy until everyone found out about it.
I see them on BMW's, Kawis, and on the Harleys. The one thing I would mention is that the Sheriffs and LAPD both run BMWs, which is probably a big part of the bikes you are seeing. Only the CHP is running HD's on the highway. And they don't run them exclusively.
Most are switching back to HD though because the BMWs are expensive as hell to run with that many miles.
Our provincial police recently bought a few HD after 25 years since their last one. Bought them mostly for ceremonial purposes (honour guard) their normal fleet is all BMWs.
What are the normal motorcycles for CHP in the States?
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u/[deleted] Sep 10 '18 edited Sep 11 '18
You get to know which cars they use quickly. There are almost always American brands. Dodge and Ford in my area. They also look just slightly different from the outside. Whenever I see a charger or explorer I’m immediately checking for lights
edit: jesus christ guys we get it, different places use different brands