police car

[boelteq]

Has anyone actually notified changes in other drivers when driving the explorer, as they think it might be a police car? I suppose having a certain color car also helps. With the crown Vic I've heard having one In your driveway deters crime, not sure if same is true with explorer.

 

[peterk9]

Has anyone actually notified changes in other drivers when driving the explorer, as they think it might be a police car? I suppose having a certain color car also helps. With the crown Vic I've heard having one In your driveway deters crime, not sure if same is true with explorer.

Yes, there have been several posts regarding that subject in various threads.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums...ade-your-suv-look-more-like-a-cop-car.441195/

Peter

 

[1995E]

Has anyone actually notified changes in other drivers when driving the explorer, as they think it might be a police car? I suppose having a certain color car also helps. With the crown Vic I've heard having one In your driveway deters crime, not sure if same is true with explorer.

No one along my street ever had their packages stolen or anything. However, a few parallel streets away, people get their packages taken and their car doors opened all the time. So it is pretty much a good deterrent. Helps if you install a dashcam as well.

 

[DeLeSaAZ]

Has anyone actually notified changes in other drivers when driving the explorer, as they think it might be a police car? I suppose having a certain color car also helps. With the crown Vic I've heard having one In your driveway deters crime, not sure if same is true with explorer.

I have never noticed that, myself. But my guess is that Explorers are so popular with the masses and they've really only just recently been introduced into fleets (in the grand scheme of things) - plus the headlights are different for practically every year of Explorer!

Back when I was a "bad boy, bad boy, whatcha gonna do" kind of guy (okay, nothing like what you'd see on Cops!), I was ALWAYS leary when I saw Crown Vic lights behind me - they were very distinct, and it SO pissed me off if I slowed down and the "that looks like a cop" passed and was nothing more than an old, converted police car that still had the spotlight or a taxi, or even just a white or black Crown Vic! BAH!! I then purchased a '03 Crown Vic in 2006 but it was burgundy, had the hood shield...maybe at night a few people in front might slow but this was already at the point when a lot of the Forces were switching to the Expeditions. When I got my Expedition, they were switching to Explorers! Now I have an Explorer and quite honestly, I've never even given it a thought.

The Crown Vic was the cop car of choice for sooooo long, that's what people got used to. Now in Phoenix Metro, between all the different city cops, the Troopers (Highway Patrol), the Sheriff, the Indian Reservations (yes, they have their own law), the Park Rangers, plus all the other county cops who are transporting people from out of county to the Arizona Superior Court in Phoenix, there's such a mix of cars, it's impossible to keep up! The one thing that's ALWAYS obvious? The 1950's style prisoner transfer bus they use between the Phoenix jail and the State Pen!! Lovely beige that looks hand painted, bars welded over all the windows, no A/C (these are the hard-core criminals - but even I feel sorry for them at 115 on the 2.5-3 hour drive. Can you imagine the smell?).

 

[Jon M]

Yes, but a glance at mine should explain it. Add to it that my town PD has a few white PIUs...

 

[DeLeSaAZ]

Yes, but a glance at mine should explain it. Add to it that my town PD has a few white PIUs...

Of course, now that it's been mentioned, yes, your's does look very "police-ish" (new word of the day). And it might turn my head. I guess I don't give it too much thought because I live in the very SE corner of Maricopa County with Phoenix proper being 40 miles away. Our little corner is contracted with the County Sheriff who drive smokey black Expeditions with gold MCSO and sheriff badges plastered all over them. The freeway system with Arizona Highway Patrol in charge DO use Explorers now - but again, they're all white aside from the royal blue markings all over them - can't miss 'em. Actually, I'm pretty sure every city has a different colored police fleet. Of course, there are always unmarked car but the Highway Patrol are sneaky with theirs - they use confiscated sports cars and the like with all the lights and things hidden behind the grill, etc. Even just driving by them, knowing what they are, they really have nothing that gives them away. I'm almost a model citizen these days though. Age has finally mellowed me out and really, the only thing I do wrong is speed. I'm a chronic speeder, a total maniac at times if I'm late for something really important! (I did say, "ALMOST" model citizen!). What I find so odd though, is that in a residential area (like I live in) where there are kids and animals running around, I drive at 15-20mph - the one place I will not speed. The funny part (funny strange) is that the worst speeders through the sub-divisions are MOMS in their GIANT SUVs (Sequoia, Suburban, Armada, etc) barreling down the residential roads that, with a car parked on each curb, leaves room for one car mid-street, ON THEIR CELL PHONES, with a bunch of kids in the car, literally doing 35+. We could use some cars that look "police-ish" looking cars parked around!!

 

[boelteq]

Usually you can tell with the spotlight on the sideview mirror but some don't even have that. I've seen a black explorer police car that looks totally normal, no lights, no special plate. It is cool to see when the lights come on the undercover ones. The sport editions I am most cautious of.

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

When I had my white Ex and wore a tan shirt it was nice that people either moved as I came up behind them OR if they came up along side them giving me a second look due to the uniform worn by our AZ DPS Troopers. Now I have a Magnetic EX and DPS is moving to silver EX's so the color isn't quite as helpful but my LED highbeams when flashed (used occasionally) to get people to move does seem to work. My old street in Seattle had a county cop (marked CV) neighbor ....had overall very little crime.

 

[DeLeSaAZ]

When I had my white Ex and wore a tan shirt it was nice that people either moved as I came up behind them OR if they came up along side them giving me a second look due to the uniform worn by our AZ DPS Troopers. Now I have a Magnetic EX and DPS is moving to silver EX's so the color isn't quite as helpful but my LED highbeams when flashed (used occasionally) to get people to move does seem to work. My old street in Seattle had a county cop (marked CV) neighbor ....had overall very little crime.

HAHA, I love the tan shirt idea - that would DEFINITELY give me pause! Usually what always gives LEO away are the antenna array (Crown Vics had them on the trunk) but now that I think on it, I don't really even see that so much anymore. It's funny what 40 years of driving do over a lifetime, for the irresponsible partiers as I used to be! In my youth, I was stoned all the time. Paperwork was all in order back then since Mom/Dad still paid for that stuff, I hadn't started drinking, just a speeder with a bag-0-weed! I was divorced at 25 (something to do with being a stoner, I think - never understood it myself!!), moved from Iowa to Arizona, and it was a 4 year totally irresponsible drunken blur. Good times (yes, I know some won't find that amusing but never hurt anyone, it was in the late 80s, and it's over). The next 10-15 years, I was always illegal in some way or another - plates, license, something. Then I finally grew up, my balls finally dropped making me a man, and it's SO much more of a pleasant experience driving not looking over my shoulder all the time or being paranoid if a LEO is anywhere in sight. My partying days (decades - whatever) were fun but it's nice being happily married, settled, grown-up and just looking back at old times and laughing. I'm sure some have similar stories, some have always been responsible and think I was or am a horrible person. We all get through life in a different way.
cwescapexlt4x4, I didn't know that DPS was going to silver - I wonder why (because every dealer charges more for white just because it's the most popular color? Bah!) I have the Ingot Silver and black trim and it's okay. Had I bought the car new, it's not a color I'd have chosen (I like the darker Magnetic) but when buying new, color isn't a super high issue for me - as long as it's not Hot Pink!). Personally, I think the Ingot Silver is a bit more difficult to see - it blends in with haboobs, the gray of the road, matches sundown/up. Do you happen to know why they're changing?

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

Wow you had quite the past

This is the new paint/markings for the AZ DPS and was to make them "stand out more" ... BTW the "black" is really reflective at night.

More info - https://aztroopers.org/enews/dps-evolves-with-new-branding-and-a-new-image

 

[Jon M]

Wow you had quite the past

This is the new paint/markings for the AZ DPS and was to make them "stand out more" ... BTW the "black" is really reflective at night.

More info - https://aztroopers.org/enews/dps-evolves-with-new-branding-and-a-new-image

At first glance, I thought that said courteous violence.

 

[DeLeSaAZ]

Wow you had quite the past

This is the new paint/markings for the AZ DPS and was to make them "stand out more" ... BTW the "black" is really reflective at night.

More info - https://aztroopers.org/enews/dps-evolves-with-new-branding-and-a-new-image

Well, indeed my past was certainly never boring (unless I was out of Party Favors) but it is amusing to sit back and think about certain times now. I just have more stories than most

As for the DPS - WOW, that's really sharp! I've gotta say, I really love it, it's striking. My '16 is Ingot Silver, maybe I should have a reflective black stripe added? But I like my 20" silver wheels and I really don't need the front bumper thing (can't remember what it's called, too lazy to look it up!). During the daylight, there certainly is NO mistaking that for anything else! Although, since they love to sit in the dark shoulders under bridges going over the freeway, they'll blend into the shadows well. I wonder why they don't change their uniforms - in the bottom, "desert" picture, his tan uniform really blends in with the desert. I'd think they'd want to stand out better so as not to get hit.

In the top picture, those windows - the front ones - look like they're tinting is against regulation, really dark! But in the bottom picture, it's obvious it's just the shadows on the first one. During my 32 years in Arizona, I've had a lot of window tinting done and I've never found anyone who would tint the front windows the same as the back Limo Tint. Guess that's what I get for going to reputable people - dang goody-two-shoes! I didn't get my last car, '13 Edge, or this Explorer tinted. I'm pondering this one but I have a theory (and go ahead and correct me or give me your own theory). The glass is already Privacy Glass, which is pretty dark. Glass that I've had limo tinting done on seems, to me (here's my theory), that it gets a lot hotter than just the Privacy Glass. That extra heat is also going to heat up the inside more as well, right? Honestly, in a Phoenician summer when it's 110-120, touching limo tinted glass will burn your hand! Privacy Glass is plenty hot, it just seems not as hot as tinted. The summer heat is the MAIN reason I always put the window rain guards on, so I can have the windows cracked and venting without worrying about a monsoon soaking the inside of my car (unless the winds are crazy bad along with it). Didn't mean to hijack the post!

Thanks to cwescapexlt4x4 for the great pictures - always good to know what to look for. Although age is mellowing me out now, I usually only go 10-15 over anymore, my Escort Detector has only failed me twice in 12 years (damn laser!!) but at least the "bad driver, BAD!" classes are only 4 hours now!!

 

[DeLeSaAZ]

At first glance, I thought that said courteous violence.

Indeed: "Please sir, may I have another!" - but more in reverse I guess!

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

As to the uniform, think of it being somewhat cooler vs black/dark blue plus it hides the dust/dirt they are often exposed to. Most LEO will be wearing a safety vest when working in traffic/on the road (think accidents etc).

I can't imagine not having the fronts done, the couple days we didn't after purchase i "couldn't stand it"