Funny/Odd things heard on the scanner

[mlevin]

OK while we're talking about Sid's cruiser, I got a question about it. I've noticed on your cruiser, and on some over in my neck of he woods, that it's marked but doesn't have a lightbar on top. Is there a reason to this, or is it just a trend. Always wonderd about that, but never had anybody to ask.

 

[K5MAR]

OK while we're talking about Sid's cruiser, I got a question about it. I've noticed on your cruiser, and on some over in my neck of he woods, that it's marked but doesn't have a lightbar on top. Is there a reason to this, or is it just a trend. Always wonderd about that, but never had anybody to ask.

Can't say about yours and Sid's neck of the woods, but several years ago, we had a flap about unmarked patrol units in the Okla. legislature. They tried to mask it as a concern over police impersonators, but the bill was introduced by a state legislator that got caught in a DUI stop by an unmarked unit. The upshot was a state law restricting the use of unmarked patrol cars for routine enforcement. Certain types of special purpose groups such as drug taskforces, etc., can use unmarked units, but not regular patrol groups. For awhile, just about everybody in the state painted "Police", "Sheriff" or what-have-you in big letters on the front fenders and trunk lids of their patrol units, but I've noticed that trend fading in recent years.

The OHP, county sherriffs, and some city agencies use marked units without overhead lights as these are less visible for doing traffic enforcement. Drivers tend to look for that highly-visible roof light bar when they are trying to spot a patrol unit in traffic.

That's the way it is here.
Mark S.

 

[FPO703]

In my hometown just SE of Cleveland, Ohio, our local PD uses a dark grey Crown Vic with Black lettering on the vehicle and the Galls 'low-profile' light bar on the front roof. Ya know, the kind that looks like a windshield visor. They also have strobes in the rear deak and in the head & tail lights.

That's OUR Traffic car. You don't know it's there until he's writing you a ticket. hehehe

 

[emtLarmy15]

Mo,
Its a trend, and a smart one. Alot of Police Officers would prefer an unmarked car. Most legislative body's want their police seen....this is/can be a compromise. You get the visibility of a marked car, and the lack of a lightbar for traffic.

Not to mention you lose the drag of the lightbar, and the 500-2000 cost of the light bar on the roof.....I wish My dept would let me take mine off....I have 6 strobes, in the corners and reverse lights, and leds all over the place inside...I dont need no stinkin light bar.

Chris

EDIT: Looking back at his avatar, I believe it does have a Fed Sig Vector bar on top

 

[mlevin]

Chris, your right Sid's cruiser does have a lightbar on top. I didn't notice it at first. Tha cops here use Mustangs minus a lightbar for traffic control. Real sweet looking.

2K for a lightbar wow. They cost as much as the radios. Why so much. It's just a few spinning light bulbs. I know I probably just offended some Volly FF somewhere in West Virginia, with his POV all decked out.

 

[6D75]

2K for a lightbar wow. They cost as much as the radios. Why so much. It's just a few spinning light bulbs. I know I probably just offended some Volly FF somewhere in West Virginia, with his POV all decked out.

Actually nowadays it's rows & rows of VERY bright LED's or strobe lights instead of the ancient lightbulbs & mirrors

K8IG

 

[FPO703]

Actually, the local FD where I live just got 2 new pumpers last year and went back to the 'old-fashioned' rotary style lightbars from Federal Signal. They have LED lights elsewhere on the rig. But, the primary warning device lights are rotary lights on the roof.

 

[emtLarmy15]

I personally have all three on my car....

Rotators on the top....
Strobes in the front/rear corners and back up lights
LED's on the dash and rear deck

Figure with all three I can't go wrong...and NOONE can EVER say they did not see me behind them or coming down the road...

...my poor alternator

ps I mis-spoke.....a all blue millenium LED bar from 911ep runs right around 2600....

 

[mlevin]

Isn't strobes just a big bright lightbulb. Yeah I'm clueless.

Around here it's still kind of mixed. The city seems to favor the strobes, and the county is slowly but surely switching over to strobes.

 

[ECPD279]

Okay, yes our cars do have Vector lightbars. As for my opinion of lightbars, when I'm code 3 and approaching an inersection I want as much light as possible coming from my car at ALL angles. Around here we have issues with people who turn their "boom" up way too loud and don't respond to audible stimuli (i.e. siren) so we must give MUCH visual stimulus. Plus, I think the Vic's look better with a lightbar.

I do prefer the Vectors to any other lightbar as well because of the improved visibility from all directions. When my car is turned sideways across traffic lanes you can still see four of the seven pods. My only gripe is that the alleys and the takedowns utilize the same bulb/reflector assemblies, so when you have your alley lights on you can't use the takedowns. But, I have a toggle switch that allows me to sweep my alleys left or right, let's see those LED or stobe bars do THAT!

As for the Intrepid, no we don't have any at the PD, but my family car is an Intrepid and I love it.

 

[I_10_92]

Sorry to inturrupt the "light bar talk" ..

A couple of weeks ago while listening to Toronto Police banter while searching for a suspect.

TPS 1: Well York had their chopper out here a few weeks ago, had me chasing everything that they picked up on the IR.

TPS 2: I hear that, they had me searching in a marsh, chasing a raccon not too long ago. And it wasnt a small bugger, it was huge. Scared the beegeebers outta me.

TPS 1: Well there is nothing scarier than coming face to face with a big mean blue rain barrel, stupid thing was filled with warm water. I can't believe they sent me to arrest a rain barrel.

TPS 2: Maybe its time we get our own chopper. I think they get a kick out of making us chase raccoons, and dump so poor guy's rain barrel.

A little background info. Toronto Police Service http://www.torontopolice.on.ca does not have their own chopper. Why? Well a while back (during a pilot project) people *****ed and moaned that "it made too much noise" so they scrapped the idea of being safer in order for people to get their sleep. York Regional Police http://www.police.york.on.ca have 2 choppers, and I've had the opportunity to see them both close up, and they are mighty impressive. So from time to time TPS calls in for a neighboring police service to lend a hand, I guess York was having some fun getting TPS all dirty.

 

[mlevin]

Thanks for saving the thread and bringing us back on topic. Things have been dull here.

 

[agentdss]

Anyone listen to Montgomery County's TAC/SAT channels (I know dc2wheel probably does). There are a bunch of clowns on Bethesda SAT almost every evening, staking out cars, and cracking gay jokes every other minute. They also have backed up into each other's cruisers by accident several times. It's hilarious!

 

[I_10_92]

Sounds like some of the security freq's in Toronto. Nothing like driving along and someone burps and or farts... let me tell ya.. that wakes ya up at 4am..

 

[scanfan03]

Isn't strobes just a big bright lightbulb. Yeah I'm clueless.

Around here it's still kind of mixed. The city seems to favor the strobes, and the county is slowly but surely switching over to strobes.

Strobes are a high intensity bulb that has to have a bunch of voltage to work (Flash). You also have to have power converters (depending on how many strobe heads you have) to convert the 12V to however many volts it takes. Now they have LED lightbars that will blind you (I am not exaggerating!). The further you back away from the lightbar the brighter it gets! The LEDs are about $2000. My County (Harris County, TX) has slick tops (marked cars with no lightbar) all over the place.

Sorry to bring it back off topic

 

[Lonesome54]

8) those led bars are soupose to use less voltage then other bars and lets get back to subject... :idea:

 

[dc2wheel]

Anyone listen to Montgomery County's TAC/SAT channels (I know dc2wheel probably does). There are a bunch of clowns on Bethesda SAT almost every evening, staking out cars, and cracking gay jokes every other minute. They also have backed up into each other's cruisers by accident several times. It's hilarious!

Yeah, those guys are a laugh a minute. I've noticed them on the SAT
channels of Rockville, Gaithersburg & Bethesda regardless of their location.
Kinda odd, but they seem pretty effective. Heard some officers last week
making fun of white-trash guys with mullets, joking they could likely get
them on failure to pay child support if nothing else. They usually digress to
making fun of each other's wives/girlfriends toward the end of the night :roll:

-dc2wheel

 

[agentdss]

check your PM dc2wheel

 

[INDY72]

Heard on a tow truck response

The other night I was monitoring a wreck on the interstate here in MS, and decided from sheer boredom, too open up the tow truck freqs and get all the action, wellllll:

Dispatch: MHP just called this one in 3. green Aerostar, plate number ******, I-55 Southbound shoulder. Supposed to be in a gulley.

Truck 3: Is that in a gulley or off in the holler?

Dispatch: They say a gulley, but will give them a holler and verify if gulley or holler.

Truck 3: OK, will hoot and holler if its in the holler by the crick.

I almost choked on my coffee.

 

[mikea7531]

The police in my hometown

This one was from the night of Hurricane Isabel:

A tree has fallen down on some power lines on one of the streets in town, some houses lost power. The police were in the neighborhood checking what houses have power:

SierraXXX: SierraYYY, can you go to the house on the corner to see if they have electricity.

SierraYYY: Which house?

SierraXXX: It's the house with its porch light on.

SierraYYY: Receive.

Um, last time i checked, if you see light, you have power!
--------------

Now this one is from a few weeks earlier:

Dispatcher: Sierra Cars ### Prospect Street.

SierraXXX: SierraXXX, go ahead county.

Dispatcher: Go to ### Prospect Street on the complaint of a raccoon in the area.

SierraXXX: Did the caller give a description?

Dispatcher: Affirm, the raccoon is grey with a black mask around the eyes, it looks like a crook (laughter heard in the background)

A cop doesn't know what a raccoon looks like? On top of that, the dispatcher gets sarcastic with the description while hearing laughter in the background of the communications center.