[Hoosier_Trooper_SSP]

Since learning of this thread, I thought I would add my 2 cents since I was one of the accused involved.

I didn’t do what I did for attention in a “Look at me” effort. I did what I did for a few reasons. I don’t consider it to be obligatory.

1st. The host club, The Mustang Club of Indianapolis, asked the 4 of us that arrived together to turn on our lights and make a little noise. We did not run our sirens all the way through the show grounds to our designated parking spots. We only made a handful of blips & beeps in certain spots. The first one I did for a little boy whose mom was telling him to look & wave at the police cars. This was before we got to Jim’s spot & before what was shown on the video. You should’ve seen how excited he was when he heard a siren! I did it again when I saw an MCI member directing us where to go. This person is also in my military reserve unit and I hadn’t seen him since returned from Afghanistan. I did it again after that at a couple of younger kids w/ their parents that were waving at us. I personally don’t think these minor instances are something that could be labeled reckless or out of control.

2nd. The host club, The Mustang Club of Indianapolis, is the local club for Chris & I. They know us well because we are 2 of the 3 members with SSPs and regularly ask us to turn on our lights and hit the siren now & then. More so at a benefit show for Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Jason “Fish” Fishburn. His fellow officers came up to our cars just because of the lights & sirens and ended up chatting for awhile. When I’ve done this in the past, it’s only occurred in contained areas and not outside of the designated show area. The request to turn on emergency equipment has usually been for the entertainment of small children and photo opportunities. I enjoy seeing the shock & surprise in the expressions on kids faces when they see the flashing lights and then hear the blip of a siren. One of the organizers told me that a bunch of the drag racers there that day came over to see the show only because they heard sirens and wanted to see what was going on. That in turn generated more donations to the Wounded Warrior Project and a few more signatures on the customized Shelby Mustang that travels the country generating support for wounded soldiers returning from Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond! That is near & dear to my heart as many of you know. So again, I don’t think this is over the top or abuse of equipment when the sound of a siren can attract positive attention to an ultra worthy cause!

3rd. Bumping the siren or having it on for a second or two is one of the only ways I can get my two boys excited about being at a car show. My boys are 14 & 10. The 10 y/o is willing to go most of the time, but the 14 y/o has to be dragged to a show. Once he’s there, he becomes a different person and gets excited about the cars and especially the SSPs. He says he wants one someday. So again, I don’t look at what I did as a bad thing or something to bring negative attention to the SSP world. I look at it as a bonding tool between a father & a son that aren’t always on the same page but can be every now and then at a show. He takes pride detailing the car and explaining the history & the different equipment in the car, especially to younger kids. So if doing what I’ve done is wrong, then so be it in the eyes that don’t think so. I’m not going to give up an opportunity to have a bonding moment w/ my boys just to appease a couple of people. I have never received a complaint about the siren, get a lot of positive comments and usually get the stories that we all get about how they got pulled over by a Mustang one time. I didn’t do any of this at shows I attended last fall. I did it this time because the host asked us to AND it was a controlled environment AND NOT in a place where local law enforcement had to be in attendance. No media was present either.



The first FHP car in the video…….He would’ve had his lights on & blipped the siren too but he forgot to put the fuse in to power the emergency equipment before he left the hotel.

I wasn’t blocking the road preventing traffic from going through. I stopped to see what Chris was doing. I didn’t see the other Oregon car until Chris had parked next to it and said he was going to take a picture with it. There was only one car that came up behind me but it was at a distance. It parked before it got close to where I was and had it wanted to go by me I wouldn’t have stopped it.

I know I signed up on here shortly after it started and have only made a few posts. I lurk more than anything else on most sites I’m signed up on. Does that make my thoughts and opinions any less important or valuable? I don’t think so. I know a lot of us are on both sites and read and/or post on both. So who’s to say whose right and who’s wrong? No one can. It’s just a different of opinions. I had a training instructor tell me once that “Opinions are like assholes…… Everybody has one and they don’t need to be heard”…… I‘ve never forgotten that and have to agree with him. The more opinions brought into a topic creates too many people thinking they are right an unwilling to accept anything different. I too have been in law enforcement for a long time. Longer than most people know. I don’t consider someone that has an old police car they take to shows, following all traffic law if they drive it in the streets, covering any markings or equipment if needed, communicating with the sanctioning body of the show and local law enforcement a “poser” or “wanna-be” by any means. There are many non-LE owners of former police cars in the hobby and represent it well. Am I misrepresenting the Indiana State Police because I own one of their old cars and I’m not a State Trooper? Am I misrepresenting the SSP hobby because I drive it to shows w/o my lights & equipment uncovered? Again, it’s just a matter of opinion.

I agree this topic has been beat to death. But when comments are made like they were it flares a fire that will probably never be completely put out. We can only agree that we disagree and move on. Don’t make comments about someone or something just because it’s different and you might not like it or do it. You may not like the tea I drink, but why comment on it? I may not like the church you go to, but why say something?

Jim, you’ve known me for awhile now. . I really thought we had a good report. So to see your stabs at me is more saddening than anything else. When you felt ousted in OH a couple years ago did I not welcome you to dinner? It saddens me to great extents to think that you were just playing me as a friend and fellow hobbyist. I hope you’re really not that kind of person in real life. If that’s what I’m dealing with here then I respectfully request that you terminate my membership. If not, then I will continue lurking and be of assistance to those who might need it.