Undercover cop with personalised plate?

[Red 4]

XCP said:

The fact that you haven't seen them is the clue! Keep looking though.

I'll add some middle ground. An unmarked Mercedes Vito van was used by ops (uniform) here a few years ago. You may have mistaken that one for Bob the Builder or a courier until it lit up like a Xmas tree.

There are also a few unmarked white Transits knocking about. These are dog vans. The excitable landshark can sometimes be heard within, as a clue.

A couple of forces also run HGV tractor units for spying into the cabs of other HGVs.

All is not as it would appear ...

[leyorkie]

Chief Fire Officers and other high ranks in the services fit discreet blues to their cars to reduce their tax bills. The car is then classed as a works vehicle and not personal so no benefit in kind.
Nice perk.

[OllieJolly]

MattyD803 said:

Sorry a bit off topic, but I do love these videos.....most suprising for me is just how susceptible the taller VW Crafters / Sprinter vans are to water ingress.....admittedly they are not always driven correctly, but I'd still have expected the air intakes to be tucked under the scuttle.....but obviously not! The often get out waded by things like low slung saloons!

I used a few different Sprinters for over a year, and whenever I lifted the bonnet there was a bucket-like fitting over the air filter which seemed to finish at the underside of the nearside bonnet grille, so I always assumed that the air came in that way and hence whenever the Sprinters go in up to those vents, that's when they die.

I never really looked into it much more than that though, I always avoided going more than sill deep anyway as I found out they leak badly into the back too, which isn't ideal when you're delivering sodden HelloFresh/Ikea/etc boxes to the residents of Prestbury.

[tonyvid]

JoPo1 said:

One of my clients sites is a workshop that fits blues and sirens to high level fire and ambulance staff vehicles.

Can be anything in there from normal Mondeos to high end BMW/Audis. I’ve seen M5’s and S7’s in getting lights in the grills etc.
More times than not it’s been senior fire staff cars. Wether than coincidence or not I don’t know but it’s never ever been Police cars as far as I know.

There is an ambulance call centre manager near me that has a Tiguan fitted with very discrete blue lights in the grills, rear windows etc - I bought something off him and asked about the car as I often walk past it and had noticed all the little additions. He said they do the discrete lights these days as it stops them being targeted by tts with keying ambitions.

[R56Cooper]

595Heaven said:

Those videos are strangely addictive aren’t they! So many people thinking speed is the answer to driving through deep(ish) water.

Haha there's a whole series of them!

[over_the_hill]

wazztie16 said:

Stuff like Golf's can be cars the police have had off crims they've caught if they're good enough to be used for police work.

There is history of Police using confiscated cars in the fight against crime

[aeytr5]

MattyD803 said:

Sorry a bit off topic, but I do love these videos.....most suprising for me is just how susceptible the taller VW Crafters / Sprinter vans are to water ingress.....admittedly they are not always driven correctly, but I'd still have expected the air intakes to be tucked under the scuttle.....but obviously not! The often get out waded by things like low slung saloons!

Strangely addictive, huh? I agree though. There is definitely driver error in most cases, but it is strange that an S5 Cabriolet can pass through unharmed and a LWB high-roof Sprinter cuts out at the first drip. Cannot understand why people think that slamming into the water and flooring it is the solution though... forcing water up the bonnet and creating a huge bow-wave is obviously going to flood it.

[daydotz]

Air intakes on sprinters are really low apparently

[anonymous-user]

aeytr5 said:

Been idly watching YouTube and came across a compilation of cars crossing the Rufford Ford in Notts. I have always been under the impression that, if that plod-looking black 5 series on the motorway has a personalised plate, it isn't a copper... but skip to 1:28 in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU7wg_mRc3s , and there is an apparently undercover car with blues on and numberplate 'L18 GHH'. The other thing which threw me off is that the car is MOT'd, and I thought that police cars had their own inspections and did not need an MOT.

Is this some with blues on his Audi, or has spotting an undercover just got much harder?

Are sure that isn't someone who has fitted blue strobes to their own audi?

[944 Man]

Are registered numbers fixed on traffic cars, or can they be fluid?

[edthefed]

Reg numbers stay on traffic cars like every other car.
Matters not whether its marked or not.

Genuine covert vehicles...lets just say there are systems in place with the agreement of the DVLA and others

[grkify]

In previous employment I came to learn that there are a lot more vehicles than you would expect fitted with blue light some incredibly weird ones and a very large number with discrete lights belonging to agencies you would never really think needing them

[pills]

Volunteer doctors, nurses and paramedics working under schemes such as BASICS https://www.basics.org.uk/ can have blue lights fitted. Other volunteer schemes also exist.