Half marked Sussex Police cars

[alfaholic]

A seemingly standard Ford Focus from the front, but what's this? Big shiny chevrons on the back and Sussex Police emblem/URL on the C-Pillars...

I saw one today for the first time driving into Haywards Heath, never seen anything like it before. Are these new or am I just completely out of date? I have been abroad for 5 years, so I'm still catching up with all the new police/camera stuff...

[pesty]

A seemingly standard Ford Focus from the front, but what's this? Big shiny chevrons on the back and Sussex Police emblem/URL on the C-Pillars...

I saw one today for the first time driving into Haywards Heath, never seen anything like it before. Are these new or am I just completely out of date? I have been abroad for 5 years, so I'm still catching up with all the new police/camera stuff...

Ive seen qiute a few of these half marked cars. I recon its so they can come up behind you without alerting you to the fact there coppers. I have seen a silver 3 series with just markings on the side

[JamieBeeston]

But isnt this just going to increase the amount of ppl who dont pull over, for fear of car jackings ?

If it was me, I would certainly think twice before pulling over for a Non 'JamJar' anywhere apart from a crowded place. Which sort of rules out motorways!

IMHO, They should be HIGHLY visible. This is just the same as painting the Scameras Grey and hiding them in bushes.

trying to trick ppl, instead of protecting.

[Chrisgr31]

Presumably it will also make it harder to spot them on their way to incidents etc, and therefore slow their progress through traffic.

[alfaholic]

Yeah, i really don't get it. The whole back of the car was marked with those popular flourecent chevrons, but it did not say "Police" anywhere, so it could be motorway mantainance or something to the casual onlooker. The only markings that gave it away as a police car were the Sussex police logos and URL on the C pillars. That means you would have to approach the car from the rear 3/4 in order to identify it as a police car.

From the front it was completely unmarked, so it could follow you for miles without you realising you had a copper on your tail. There were no flashing lights or extra ariels on the roof either, so I can only assume that this was a deliberate disguise.

The question is - Why? Why not just leave it completely unmarked? What's the deal with only "decorating" part of the car? All a bit ddodgy if you ask me.

[Chrisgr31]

alfaholic said: Yeah, i really don't get it. The whole back of the car was marked with those popular flourecent chevrons, but it did not say "Police" anywhere, so it could be motorway mantainance or something to the casual onlooker. The only markings that gave it away as a police car were the Sussex police logos and URL on the C pillars. That means you would have to approach the car from the rear 3/4 in order to identify it as a police car.

From the front it was completely unmarked, so it could follow you for miles without you realising you had a copper on your tail. There were no flashing lights or extra ariels on the roof either, so I can only assume that this was a deliberate disguise.

The question is - Why? Why not just leave it completely unmarked? What's the deal with only "decorating" part of the car? All a bit ddodgy if you ask me.

Maybe it is a loan car, and used by a beat officer,, and not used to attend incidents. I would have said it could belong to the Forensic people but there vans say they are Forensic team on them.

I did see a Sussex Police Crash Investigation van parked in one of the police laybys on the A23 last week. It looked as if it may have had amera operation ability.

[alfaholic]

Chrisgr31 said:Maybe it is a loan car, and used by a beat officer,, and not used to attend incidents.

I doubt that very much, if it was a loan car for a beat officer you would quite rightly expect to see it in town. I spotted this car pulling off the A23 after I had been following it for several miles and then heading in towards Haywards Heath. This is pretty unpopulated area, why would a beat officer be covering this ground?

Chrisgr31 said:I would have said it could belong to the Forensic people but there vans say they are Forensic team on them.

I've seen a few of these in and around Brighton, typically they are fully marked silver/grey Ford Focuses (Focusi?) and they actually look quite funky, they have "Forensic Investigation" written on the back of them and on the area around the C pillars. They also quite clearly state that they are police cars from the front and rear. The Sussex Police dog units are simmilar efforts, but obviously they are proper vans not estates in order to cater for fido the junkie in the back.

Chrisgr31 said:I did see a Sussex Police Crash Investigation van parked in one of the police laybys on the A23 last week. It looked as if it may have had amera operation ability.

Really? Are you sure? Naughty, naughty...