For the Stockton people and people in California in general.

I got pulled over this morning on Center Street by a Mercury Sable with a police light on the dash. Out comes a cop in a uniform telling me that I was going 50 in a 35 and what my hurry was because he was following me a lot of the way. Also told me I was lucky I avoided getting hit by radar by a motorcycle cop (which I saw from a mile away) He gave me a warning and told me to slow down and I was relieved.

So....

What's the law on getting pulled over by unmarked cars? I mean for god's sake, it was a Mercury Sable and I had no idea it was a cop til he flashed that K-Mart red/blue light on his dash. Could he have actually given me a ticket or not?

 

Yes.



...and we call it the "Kojack" light

 

im not sure he actaully could have given you a ticket thats why he only gave you a warning. ill try and find out the realy answer in a little bit

EDIT: what was this car like? did it have a siren? if this was just some plain old white car that didnt look like a cop caar at all with just some lights in the window then he cant stop you. and if you didnt stop for him nothing was going to happen. for a cop to do traffic inforcement like he did to you he eather has to have a PD sticker on the door, or the door has to be a different color then the car ( black car white door). so really you didnt need to stop and you could have gotten away with it.

 

unless the car has been set up with ALL the proper lighting ... light flickers and the works... i dont even bother. There's way to many wackos to take the chance.

 

yup seriously if the only "policy thing it has is flashing lights in the window dont risk it just keep going.

 

Nah. It was just a plain Black Mercury Sable. I didn't look at the plates to see if it was a government car though. It didn't have any Stockton PD stickers or anything of the sort. It only had a red blue kmart light installed near the dash or near the rear-view. I did hear a siren though I think.

 

I don't think you have to stop, because for all you know, it could be some carjacker who bought lights. It's not safe to pull over in those situations. Hence the car has to resemble a squad car in some shape or form.

 

actually you do have to stop.

Out in vacaville where I work we have green Mercury Mountaineers (ford explorer, mercury version) and their plates are regular california plates, but they are actual officers, they have lights in the front and back.

 

W3RD. I work for a company that sells police/fire sirens and lights. I sell these things all day long to undercover/unmarked police in the area. I even sold an Undercover strobe kit (strobes in headlights and tailights) to a dept. fitting out an 03 Range Rover! Depts. are hard up for money, and are doing anything possible to catch you in the act. If that was a kojack light, it's maybe $50 bucks. If it was an LED Dash/Deck light is was maybe $200. So for $50 - $200 in lights on a normal car, police depts. are able to fool all kinds of people. You just have to look for the lights BEFORE you get pulled over. The most common are the Dash/Deck lights and Grille lights. The undercover strobe kits will get you though, cause there's no way to see them.

-Chris

 

Normally if I get pulled over by a B&W police car, I will pull my car safely to the side, roll both passenger and driver's side windows down, then turn off the car and place my keys on the dash, being sure to leave my hands in clear view of the approaching officer the entire time. If it is night time, I will also turn on the dome light.
However, if I got pulled over by an undercover, I would barely crack the windows and leave the car running in case excrement hit the circulating device. I am definitely not going to "f" with a cop, which means I'll pull over and be respectful. However, I'm going to see a legit badge and/or a legit uniformed officer before my car is shut off and I take her out of first gear. If anything at all seems out of the ordinary, I'm going to bolt. They can arrest me later if they want, but I am not taking chances with my safety.

edit: to answer your question, it's the law of the jungle. Cops can get away with almost anything they want to. Best to go the path of least resistance by being respectful and cooperative when dealing with Johnny Law. That way, it's easier for them to do their job, and you're less likely to get a citation, arrested or beat up.

 

your best be is to just run from any cop, make sure to drift every corner, and aim for groups of people, whent hey scatter they will run in front of hte cops thus forcing them to stop chasing you.

it works for me every time, make sure to fill your nitrous bottle to ya never know when you might need help.

 

edit: nvm

 

Ahhhh but does anyone know the actual law behind all this. By law, can the cop give you a ticket or not without being a motorcycle cop or an official police vehicle.

 

i heard they cannt give out tickets for traffic violations tho...

they can warn you and stop you search your car, but its called intrapment if they ticket you for a violation.

most of these cars are detective cars out watching and controlling gang and drug activity.

edgar,

 

Did you even read my post?