Just goes to show......
 

Even when marked "out of service" there will still be someone who may call in a complaint....

My GSP barely ever moves, so every once in a while I take it out to keep things moving....last week I took it to lunch and to pick up some paint supplies...all in all about 12 miles one way. No problems whatsoever...came back and parked the car again.

Yesterday my buddy(AL State Trooper) was by the shop and to join us for lunch...he told me he heard from someone that they heard a call go out on the scanner last week in another small town(where my paint supply shop is) for a Grey/blue police car driven by someone who was not a LEO....that's all I got. So today I took a drive down to Leeds and another town along the way with a flyer that I made up after seeing Andy's flyer on his CHP and I asked to see the Police Chief. I gave him the flyer and explained that my buddy told me there was a call out on the car and that I just wanted to let him know who I was and why I have the car....He said "yes, we got a call on this....they said the lights were on" to which I told him that was not possible(aside from there being no chance in hell I'd ever do that, I have the fuse pulled so they are disabled and there can be no accident). We then talked about what I do here and he said "Really? I have a '68 Mustang"....so in the end I may have picked up another customer and the Chief was very happy that I took the time to stop by and had the flyer...he said he would let all his guys know about it.

Here is a picture of the car(same I used on the flyer)....My out of service decals are not small and stand out and on top of that my personalized tag is "EX GSP". The lightbar cover is not on in this picture.

SO...in the end....Thanks Andy for posting your flyer as it gave me the idea to make my own. It goes to show that it is a helpful tool to help local law enforcement know who we are because regardless of out of service markings and no abnormal behavior it is obvious that some idiot may take it upon themselves to call you in and even lie about the use of lights. ;)

This is even further evidence for the need to clearly mark these cars as out of service and do what you can to go that extra step to show that you are not attempting to impersonate.

hate to hijack the thread but do you ever plan to sell that car? I really would love to have a GSP. PM me if you think you might in the future.

Thanks!

Chris

Sorry but I don't plan to sell it.....but you never know what the future holds. I'll keep you in mind if I ever decide to.

No problem. thank you.

Wouldn't it save some trouble if you covered the lightbar...??? Exposed blue lights can cause confusion....IMO

:)

Good point, Paul (and Andy). Maintaining positive relationships with your local LEOs is pretty important, IMHO, and stopping and sharing information is a great way of doing that.

Wasn't clear if he drove it with or without the cover in this instance....

Right, I likewise noticed that there was an explaination to the Chief about the fuse thing but no mention of having a cover on the light bar to him so I assumed...not? Paul, could you please clarify.

Normally the cover goes on whenever I leave my local town...Unfortunately in this case the cover was not on...only because I have my cover at the local trim shop for duplication....and my trim and paint supply shop are the same, the coincidence was that was one of the reasons I took the car that day so we could do a test fit on his copy of the one I have. I took that as the reason for the call...however the person that called flat out lied and claimed the lights were on....there is suspicion that is was a nearby business owner that does not get along with my trim guy just trying to cause trouble for his customers.

I also purposely took that picture without the cover on to show that the car does have a blue lightbar indicating a restoration to in service appearance...I left the magnetic GSP signage off because the car will never be seen with it other than on a show field or cruise in.

While law does not require me to place out of service badging or a cover on the bar but I do that anyway just to go above and beyond....also the reason why I chose the vanity plate I did.

Regardless of whether it was the guy down the corner just causing trouble or an average citizen, I am fairly certain the uncovered bar did not help....but with the obvious signage on the windows that call could have come in even with the cover on.

Another thing I am now going to do as another precautionary measure is modify the tree that holds the light controls and siren as a quick release with a plug connector....that can then be left at the shop and out of the car until needed for an event.

In the end, I blame nobody.....it's my car and I chose this collectible so I just take it as part of ownership and do what I can to maintain a good relationship with all local PD's. The car rarely gets driven but this goes to show that it doesn't matter...just that one time out and it takes one call. Nothing bad or even negative happened in this case but if I had NOT gone down and talked with the Police Chief I can guarantee that the next time I was in that city I would have most certainly been pulled over!

sounds like this car is more trouble than its worth. Maybe you should sell it...... to me.:D


just kidding Paul.

Nice try :D

Now THAT's Funny. :)

Paul,

I thought you had the cover on, based on your comment in your first post in this thread and your previous posts about having one. Thanks for the clarification, though.

One thing you (and anyone else with restored/marked/semi-marked cars) might want to consider is the use of the "out of service" or "not in service" verbage. Both of those can be ambiguous...implying that the car is a "real" police car. I'd recommend "Show car" or something a little clearer to the general public. Although, in your case, it probably wouldn't have mattered, given the issue you described.

Yes, normally I always use the cover....but my concern has been deterioration from the sun and foul weather use staining the "out of service" embroidery I had done on it which is why I wanted to get another made. I have no idea who originally made the one I have and it is very nice so I wanted to try to duplicate it...that way I didn't have to worry so much about wearing it out. I also had some trouble with the back of the snaps rubbing the lenses so I wanted to address that and have some padding put in to protect the lenses from rubbing at speed.

I had discussed the verbage issue long ago with a large number of LEO's around and all agreed "out of service" would be best because it was a genuine police car and "Show car" would give the impression to the general public that it was OK to just make a police car look-a-like. Likewise the impression to other LEO's would possible be that you built your own police car....at least with the out of service they understand that you restored an old police vehicle and that is why you have it. It is also common for police cars when serviced and driven by civilians to have the out of service verbage so there was already a precident set there for a civilian operating this type of vehicle which is another reason they recommended it. So that is why I chose the out of service verbage. Of course it might be an option to use both and read "Show Car-Out of Service"....that might be an even clearer message...??

In California, the preferred verbage for privately owned vehicles seems to be "Not In Service" with "Out Of Service" reserved for agency owned vehicles only...a subtle but important wording distinction.

Also, uncovered forward facing red lights and ANY exterior blue lighting are a huge no-no here...guaranteed to get immediate negative attention from LE. It's been very common for cars with blue undercarriage or wheel well lighting and even bicyclists using those red flashing LED lights forward to get a traffic stop.

DJP, I stand corrected.:)

That's a good idea....and I like the Not in service wording better. I can change the decals on the car easy enough but I've already embroidered the cover....I guess both versions wouldn't hurt....or maybe if this next cover doesn't kill me I'll just make a couple more with the different wording.

Any blue neon lights are highly illegal here as well....the law indicates that lit up blue lighting is not allowed under any circumstance but they can be on the car as long as not on.

now thats taking it to a whole different level and being a total ass about it. Any cop doing this would have to be a total prick. I have one of those on my bicycle and its for safety so no one runs me over from behind. I have been driving on dark roads and myself seen cyclists with the flashing LEDs. With it flashing it is much more visable then if it was just burning steady red, and much safer...

My point exactly....actual police vehicles, meaning those currently used by law enforcement officials. The 'out of service" covers are manufactured for that reason.

To me, once the car leaves service, and is in civilian hands, it's better to be completely clear with whatever wording you use. I threw out the "show car" as an example. It doesn't give anyone the impression that they can make-up a police car, no more than you driving around your car with the lightbar exposed would, but people are going to do whatever they want to anyhow.

I agree with you.....but the show car idea has already surfaced. I had someone come to me and ask if they could just make a "show car" police replica out of any car...in this case it was a '76 Corvette that he wanted to paint up like a CHP and put a light bar on. He didn't know any better so I just told him "No, you can't do that....it must be an official retired vehicle"....the LAST thing we all need is a bunch of idiots running around with Toyota Supra or Cadillac Police cars for whatever reason they want to do it. Granted this is probably a small minority but we already know there are a lot of stupid people out there. As it is I already tell kids that ask me "I didn't know you could have a car like that" that you can't, you have to have a permit and register it with Police and that pretty much ends the conversation.

The other thing I have seen that bothers me is young kids becoming a volunteer firefighter just so they can put a red light up on their dash. I've seen a couple of them pulled over and ticketed here because they think it gives them the right to do 80mph in a 30 when they get a call.

I'll stick to worrying about our Mustangs (and the postings relating to them on this site). ;)

Well...you know the point I was trying to make ;).....there could be a bunch of 2.3L Mustang fake SSP's running around.

There, I tied it into Mustangs :P

Not on this website there won't be. :No no:
I do know what you meant, though. :bouncy:

You got that right! I can imagine the carnage someone would face if they showed up with one :D

I'd like to think of it as polite persuasion. (but really it's just dedication to the hobby)

:)

After reading a ton of posts and checking out Georgia law on the subject, which is a little sketchy, I don't need to worry about driving around in my Blues Brotherish '82 with faded paint and x's on the doors do I? I would be shocked if I got hassled for driving it. It's still black and white and, frankly looks like a pos. Of course it will not say police anywhere on it or have any law enforcement decals. I have the exact verbage saved, but Georgia law is something to the effect of impersonating an officer/vehicle of the same colors w/blue lights, etc. From everything I have read, it appears as though the only time I would get hassled would be if I were in CA. I hope I am correct in not being too extremely worried about it.
Pics are hopefully coming soon however I am a little intimidated to post them after seeing Winter Park SSP's detail job. The carburator is the only clean part on my car.

I think you'll be OK.

No worries on the pics....can't be any worse than many of our cars. My '83 TX car is probably one of the worst on here.

Not to hijack the thread...but I think the guy may have acted alone. I saw a special on him a week or so ago. The guy was seriously delusional and very well could have pulled it off. At least I won't argue with you about UFO's or something like the fact OJ killed his wife!

Chris, maybe my post wasn't clear about the red LEDs on bicycles...they are only a problem when the clueless bicyclist mounts or shows them FORWARD (just like police bicycles use...right?). You cannot emit any red light forward on any vehicle (including bicycles) in California unless it is on authorized emergency equipment and LE takes this section of the VC very, very seriously at every level.

if there is any carnaging to be done I volunteer. :D

lol....i cant help it guys.........really I cant.......i promise it is just to difficult....

No, you won't have any problems in GA.....owning a GSP and living in a neighboring state I have looked hard into the Georgia law pertaining to GSP cars.....here is what I gathered from it:

-You can own a car in GA that is Blue/Gray two tone and you can drive it as well. (They constantly sell off old P71s with the same paint scheme but no emergency equipment).

-You CANNOT Operate a car that is blue/grey WITH any emergency equipment installed.

So this means that if I need to travel through the state of Georgia with my GSP that I either have to trailer the car OR I have to remove every bit of emergency equipment from the car. If I had left it a slick top then I could have driven it but by my restoring it back as it was with the light bar I have restricted myself from having it on the road in that state.

I have the law printed out somewhere in my collection here in the office.....

EXACTLY....everything you said is 110% true! I built the engine for my GSP back in September of '06 when the MCA had it's 30th event here in Alabama and my car has logged only 435 miles since then....and most of that was me just trying to put some break in miles on it. I think it has travelled 25 miles since September of '07! But it only takes one idiot to make things difficult and attempt to cast a negative light on you.

There is VERY LITTLE common sense out there today and it's really sad....I remember back when I lived in Southern Maryland there was a local guy with a restored 1965 Galaxie MD State Police car who attended a big Cruise in Ocean City....some citizen called him in during the biggest car show of the year and said he was impersonating a police officer. A Rookie local cop ended up pulling him over(well, he was already pulled over and parked on the show field at the time!) and read him the riot act and threatened to impound his car. In the end he was vindicated and nothing happened....but the lack of common sense didn't settle in and it caused trouble for him.

There is a saying in Retail( I used to be a sales rep in the gift/toy industry) that "The buying public is basically stupid" and that carries on with (unfortunately) most of the general public. In retail....dept. stores take something like a brass picture frame, mark it up 4 times and then put it on sale for 50% off and while people are still paying what would normally be full retail, they think they are getting a steal at "50% off". Same thing happens in the Jewelry business. Then you get people on the road....they get a case of the "stupids" and have no common sense and much of the time act like idiots.

I bet I could take an Amish Horse and buggy painted up like an old Police car with NO police markings and a Gumball light on it even covered with a plain black cover and SOMEBODY is going to legitimately believe it is a real CURRENTLY USED police vehicle! It's sad that the actions of many make us lose faith the the commons sense abililty of our fellow man!

Your correct
 

Basic common sense is the Key as stated earlier. As the person who called you in was so anxious to tattle tale on somebody. They made up a story that you were driving around with your lights on. That tells you where the real problem lies. stickers, no stickers, lights, no lights, cop car, not a cop car, etc, etc. People can make up any story they want. Like you posted, you simply drove to the paint store. Its as I have said and been ridiculed before, it is how you conduct yourself as a citizen not what you driving for a car. Do people call in every police car they see driving down the road?? No they call in the one going 75mph in a 25 with blue lights flashing. You can type all day about ways to hide your car. People and officers will think and say what they want regardless of the measures taken to hide them.

FRED ASHMORE

Well, not entirely....if I had been driving my F350 then there would have been no phone call....it does matter what you are driving to a point. Someone saw a vehicle they did not consider ordinary so they made up a story enough to get law enforcement attention on that vehicle. If I had been driving a Fire Truck they did not recognize they may have done the same. If I had been driving a top fuel dragster...while legal according to Alabama Law as long as it has working lights, they may have called that in as well. When driving something like an ex-police car you have more of a responsibility with that vehicle and how it is perceived....it comes with the territory.

I'm sure you guys have noticed in the past, that I get a little torqued off when people post burnouts with their mustangs, or other crazy stuff that makes us look bad. The general public loves to find something to complain about when it comes to law enforcement, right up to the time they are getting there ass robbed and need us to come save them or their loved ones from all the dark evil forces on the planet.

The issue of lights, light bars etc has never been an issue with me since I am LE myself. I have driven my cars, fully marked, to cruise ins and other local car shows however I take the utmost care to be the most polite, law abiding citizen I can be. I have never had a problem. I drive them VERY rarely.

For the hobbyist that is not a police officer I would suggest that when on the road have everything covered up, light bar, lights, markings etc so that there is no way that it can be construed that you are a wanna be, out to impress others. Unless required by your state laws, the car doesn't need to say "out of service", "retired from service", "show car only", or any of the other verbage that does nothing but draw attention to your car. I suggest you get a black light bar cover made, black covers for the deck lights, black magnets to cover decals, and make sure the master switch for all emergency equipment is working and everything is disabled. If stopped, simply tell the officer that you are a police car collecter, and on the way to wherever it is your going. If you are driving your car responsibly you should never have a problem anyway. Always remember, it only takes one moron to ruin it for everybody.

just my .02

I'm with Jim.

+2

How do I find out what the law is in NYC with owning my FHP B4C?

Where do you buy the "not in service" lightbar covers from?