Random As Rhyme

A few days ago a pretty controversial and sneaky undercover cop car was posted on local GTA automotive forums.  Now GTA cops have been using undercover vehicles for awhile, they have/had  Dodge Intrepids, Honda civcs,  Ford Expeditions, and Nissan Altimas just to name a few, however this recent under cover vehicle might be taking things to far.

The above car looks really similar to a cab, however it is infact a Police car. Sure with the lights on it is pretty easy to spot but without the lights would you know it was there? The number on top is actually for a local Halton Region Police Station.

Now I understand the need for less conspicuous, ‘unmarked’ (they are normally subtly marked.) Police cars, and I understand that the GTA is not the first to employ a method such as this.

I also get the fact that the Police are also playing off my preconceived notions as to what a cab actually looks like, however is it really justifiable?

I am making what I believe is a logical assumption (I acknowledge that by assuming I am making an ass out of you and me) that this vehicle is most likley used mainly to enforce moving violations. The ‘cab’ sits at the side of the road, waits for speeders to go by then ‘woop woop’ suddenly it’s a Police Officer and you are getting a ticket.

I have a few issues with this new ’safety enforcement device’.

The first is that the current speed trap safety blitz methods work out pretty well. Personally I have been caught twice and have witnessed countless others get caught at traps I now have a heightened awareness of.

Statistically the current methods are also proving effective. In the most recent back to school traffic safety initiative the city issued over 20, 000 tickets with 8,857 for speeding offenses. These numbers certainly portray a successful effor, how many more are necessary?

How many more disputed traffic tickets can our court system take?

Are the rumored monthly traffic ticket quotas that hard to reach?

My second issue with this is had I not seen the image of the ‘cop cab’ I am not sure I would pull over if this vehicle was behind me.

If I was in an area I didn’t know out in Georgetown late at night would it be unreasonable for me to continue driving to a well lit area before I stopped? Would this get me into further trouble? Who knows.

Is crime prevention ‘weapon’ such as this really necessary for use on the general public? I really doubt this vehicle is used for undercover gang/drug sting operations since two people sitting side by side in the front of a cab is fairly uncommon and one police Officer going into a dangerous situation is also fairly uncommon.

Regardless of it’s intended use, or even how often it is used from this point on I am going to have to assume that any and every Crown Victoria is a Police car just for my own sake.

I think there are going to be quite a few surprised Crown Vic owners in the GTA wondering why every time they drive people are pulling off to the shoulder.