what's up with cars that look like police cars? (Pasadena: high school, college)

[Proud2bPinoy]

i sometimes see ford crown victoria cars with steel bumper in front, similar color to a police car but doesnt have anything that says it's a police car.

i get confuse if it's a police car or not. why are these cars allowed?

[lhafer]

Yes they are allowed. Think they used to be police cars, and got auctioned off. A lot of time they still have the spotlight on them as well.

[Houstonkid]

Old beat down police cars that were sold for a minimum price. See them all of the time.

[Alphalogica]

Originally Posted by Proud2bPinoy

i sometimes see ford crown victoria cars with steel bumper in front, similar color to a police car but doesnt have anything that says it's a police car.

i get confuse if it's a police car or not. why are these cars allowed?

They are actually everywhere. I had a close buddy in high school who bought one that used to be a College Station Police cruiser. He always wondered how many drunk college kids pissed in the back seat. I remember when riding with him, people next to us would slow down thinking it was a real cop car. That was nearly 10 years ago.

LOTS of taxi cabs were originally police cruisers, too. Taxi companies have been snapping these cars up because they are cheap and there is a good deal of overlap between the needs of cops and taxis (Power for radios and computers, durable interiors, roominess, good A/C during extended idling, steel wheels sized for a tire size that is cheap).


A true police vehicle will always have TEXAS EXEMPT plates. That's how you can tell.


I do agree that it sometimes can get out of hand.

I knew of a guy in my Pasadena-based Army Reserve unit (whom I presume was a cop) who actually had a police cruiser partition and cop lights in his private vehicle (non-Texas exempt). I don't know the law but I think it would be a little bit legally questionable to detain suspects in a private vehicle (a car with regular Texas, non-exempt plates) Some people I think do push the limits.

[l3m]

Originally Posted by Alphalogica

A true police vehicle will always have TEXAS EXEMPT plates. That's how you can tell.

If a police car tries to pull you over, don't stop unless it has the proper police markings. You should notice the license plate, radio antenna, and emergency lights. License plate numbers are provided by the municipality they belong to and have a different format than those given to private citizens.

[ShelbyGirl1]

See them all the time...and must have just recently had a auction somewhere, because lately, even more so in and around our area.
My son lusted after one yrs ago...we hit auction out in Ca. LOL....one look(and smell) at the interior of most of the cars and he changed his mind. There were smells and stains that were never going to be removed! Gross!

[Northside904]

Or they could be unmarked cop cars, which most law enforcement officers use as opposed to regular police vehicles. Many of my friends own '94-97 Crown Vic police vehicles that they bought from auction sites.

[SkyeAnjel]

I agree with northside, there are alot of unmarked police vehicles now, they can be suburbans, pick up trucks..you never can tell..police are sneaky these days,lol!

[bluelion_ms3]

chances are the OP is referring to the old blue color of HPD. as far as i know, HPD cars are now White with Blue writing... and even the "ghost" cars are White with off white/silver lettering. so the blue crown vics you see that resemble a cop car is probably 99.9% an auctioned off car...