Maserati driver accused of impersonating a police officer with Transformers-inspired paint job

a reply to: OccamsRazor04
The door doesn't really look like a police badge to me however it looks like there is text saying "speed enforcement" which I probably a bit dodgey.

The police were justified in stopping him, the car does look way too much like LE. We have a problem with cop impersonators stopping people and robbing them or raping them.

You can be stopped just for having a spotlight on your car in Pennsylvania. Other states aren't as harsh.

The guys intentions may have been to make people obey speed limits, but that's not really his job. Tricking people into thinking he is a cop can have all sorts of negative ramifications.

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: Biigs

My mate got a right telling off when he bought a Skarsky and Hutch type siren which plugged into the fag lighter and we went around Manchester with it on.
All the cars moved from us and then the blue flashing light came on behind us....we just played the foolish and my pal just got told off and warned...fun though.

Lucky.

I had a idiot friend in Uni do the same thing with his GTI and got 3 months in prison and 2 year driving ban.

Unless it says "Police" or "Officer"....it isn't impersonating a police officer.

Unless the officer admits to being a decepticon, I see no case here.

originally posted by: Antipathy17
a reply to: boymonkey74

Made to pain his car, why? Because it's replicated after a car in a movie which happens to look a bit like a police car but has no markings other than a quote and badge from a movie? We should arrest everyone who is still driving a black and white crown vict with the side lights....

I agree. Hopefully if he has the loot for a Maserati, he has the loot for a good lawyer. As long as he didn't use the car to perpetrate a crime or in any way to sway belief toward him being a cop for personal gain or endanger the general public with it, then this is a non-issue. The prosecutor must show intent too, that he planned on using it in the commission of a crime or for some other criminal reason. Innocently painting your car like that because you think it looks cool, isn't a crime.

a reply to: buster2010

as I see, I must have glanced over that in my tiredness. Apologies.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

A silly situation, but I suppose every private security vehicle on the streets should now be taken off the streets because they are impersonating a police vehicle. The vehicle doesn't say "Police," does no one read these days? Whether the guy thought (and stated he thought) he was helping the police or not is irrelevant. The vehicle does not say "Police" so the cop is just stupid and requires some education.

Now I guess they better arrest every hooker, stripper and kid on halloween that dresses up as a cop. What lame non-issue.

Cheers - Dave

a reply to: bobs_uruncle

Your car has wheels!!! JUST LIKE COP CARS

arrest everyone!

Its a bit stupid, now if you dress like a cop, make your car look like a cop car and pull people over THATS impersonating a cop.

Cop cars make people drive careful when they are around, sorry how is that a bad thing again?

Stupid rules equal stupid laws - i doubt that even the cops themselves care, but i guess they are just doing their job, cant blame them for it really.

This guy obviously did go too far and I have zero point zero sympathy for some rich jackass who thinks it would be cool to doll up a car that is specifically made to exceed the limits of normal safe driving on public streets so that people think they will get in trouble if they don't get out of his way and let him do what he wants. I hope they auction his car off to another rich guy and arrest the guy who buys it too- with a little luck they'll get a couple dozen rich entitled jerks off the road for good before they catch on and create a hell of a budget surplus for their local government.

That being said, I don't like a law that holds one to account for the perceptions of others. A crime should be a specific act that you know better than to commit, not a condition that arises in somebody else's brain and then sticks to you. I bring that up because while most police cars are required by law to be distinctively marked, at least if they are to be used for traffic enforcement, at least in my state there is no legal definition of what constitutes distinctive markings- a loophole that allows police to use plain white crown vics with lights hidden in the back window to violate the spirit of the law and generate more ticket revenue.

I don't claim to know the law as it relates to this specific case- hopefully in this jurisdiction there is a specific requirement that one of the elements on that vehicle not be placed on a non-law enforcement vehicle. That would make me a little more comfortable with the story.

And why is it important that no one impersonate a police officer to begin with? This guy claims he was doing them a favor- making the police appear to be in more places and perhaps deterring crime. Why would that be a bad thing? Well obviously because the police command an unreasonable amount of fear and authority which can completely override any common sense or personal liberty and I'm sure this guy enjoyed that a hell of a lot more than he enjoyed "helping the police". They can do whatever the hell they want and you are told not to question them. So this guy has put the police in the position of having to either A. Be reasonable about the scope of their own authority so that it is not strong enough to be abused to any real effect. B. Give people the right to be sure authority is valid before they instantly obey. C. Reaffirm that these symbols do mean unlimited authority and therefore must be reserved for the police, who would never ever abuse it because they are morally superior to others.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
Unless it says "Police" or "Officer"....it isn't impersonating a police officer.

Unless the officer admits to being a decepticon, I see no case here.

I totally agree with this. Here in Georgia, law enforcement including police, state patrol and detectives auction off their retired cruisers to the public and they still have the original police color scheme and the spotlights on the driver's door. You can see a large number of these vehicles on the roads on any given day. Crown Vics, Chargers, you name it.

I used to have one myself a while back. It was a white Crown Vic with tinted windows and still had the spot light and the unique black wheels. They even left the switch inside that when activated, the headlights would rapidly flash on and off, left to right. I had so much fun in that car driving down the highway in the fast lane. I'd roll up on some idiot going 50mph in the fast lane in a 70mph zone, so I'd flick on the oscillating headlight switch and they'd always get out of my way.

I made no changes to that car and drove it as it was when the LEO's sold it to me. I never had any problems.

IMHO, the cop that harassed this guy was just being a jerk and is just yet another power-tripping moron adding to the pile of other power-tripping morons who give cops a bad name. He needs to go flip burgers or something before he shoots somebody's dog or something.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

It's a political statement.
You think they are there to serve and protect than they transform and shoot your dogs and kids.

a reply to: The Vagabond

How did he go too far?

As the above poster said they sell old cop cars with everything but the cherry on top.

I see old decommissioned cop cars with spot lights all the time.
It SAYS decepticon everyone knows what it means. If he were pulling people over or using lights is one thing. It's just a color scheme.

a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

The 911 and the speed enforcement, the confession that he realized he was being mistaken for a cop and decided to continue because he thought the results were good. In all honesty I came into this thread fully intending to hate on cops who had gone too far because that's sorta where the zeitgeist is and for good reason, but there's just no arguing with the photo and the driver's own testimony as far as I can see.

The car looks really cool, too bad we have too many morons messing with people. Although I do get the whole "Looks like a cop thing."

a reply to: LrdRedhawk

we barely have a taxi company locally. They buy either former LEO fleet cars, or they take a car from their associated junk business, fix it, and put it to work as a taxi.

We had one car running around for about 7 months that you could still clearly make out the Albequerque graphics on it from their PD.

He painted "speed enforcement" on a car dolled up to look like a police cruiser. I'd say they were justified in citing him for impersonating an officer.

originally posted by: Biigs
a reply to: bobs_uruncle

Your car has wheels!!! JUST LIKE COP CARS

arrest everyone!

Its a bit stupid, now if you dress like a cop, make your car look like a cop car and pull people over THATS impersonating a cop.

Cop cars make people drive careful when they are around, sorry how is that a bad thing again?

Stupid rules equal stupid laws - i doubt that even the cops themselves care, but i guess they are just doing their job, cant blame them for it really.

Yep, it's got wheels just like a cop car, damn! Guess we have to drive tanks until all the cops get those as well.

Stupid rules and laws need to be challenged. Just like in the military, bad orders like shooting unarmed and non-threatening civilians needs to be challenged, as one extreme example, remember Vietnam? I expect the cops do care actually, it helps them increase their quota of cash cow tickets, they are after all "tax" administrators with guns (basically the highwayman who claims a road and extorts a toll under threat). New law = cash! Lame or lax interpretation of law = cash! Bending the law to produce a top down solution - cash! It's all about the Benjamins.

Cheers - Dave

On one hand, if he's taking excessive liberties with the vehicle under the guise of the paint job and being mistaken for a uniformed officer, that's one thing. If he's just a big kid with a cool car expressing his fandom, that's another.

He probably got a lot of smiles from children of all ages....and I really see no harm no foul in people slowing down a bit on the roads.

I guess the real matter here is his intent....was it honorable?

Locally we have all manner of vehicles ranging from beater cars to tricked out Hum-Vee's and Jeeps with paint jobs or decals on them saying they're the ZOMBIE ATTACK RESPONSE VEHICLE.

I break into a smile every time I see one...it doesn't mean they're intentionally misleading the public with nefarious intent.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Yeah, the charge is legitimate. A bit ham-fisted, but a valid complaint. What seals the deal in my opinion is contrasting color door, and detail work. Thats a bit too far. In my town, there's a guy in a Camaro with the "...to punish and enslave" in local police script on the rear fenders, no big deal.

When driver said "other drivers slow down around me" I bet that just pissed off the cop more, since cop couldn't afford a Maserati to patrol in.

Around here, if you REALLY wanted to impersonate a county sherrif, get a black Tahoe, with blacked out steel wheels, (chrome center cap) and dark tinted windows. Throw in a grill guard, and if possible, a spotlight through the driver's side A-pillar. No outward markings of any kind.

Just to throw a bone to the other side and offer contrast- There was a bar owner in my area who got sick of the cops putting a checkpoint right in front of his place in response to some personal dislike of him, so he bought a shuttle van, painted it black and white and put a donut on the side. That would be my idea of something that obviously isn't over the line, could not be mistaken for a legit police vehicle, and never should have been screwed with. Needless to say it got screwed with quick fast and in a hurry though.