10.23.2006
Lightbars? We Need No Steenking Lightbars
In the days of the wild west, it was easy to tell the good guys from the bad ones. According to old Hollywood westerns, the good cowboys wore white hats while the baddies preferred black. During a shoot-out or chase, it was easy to tell who was who, especially before movies were shot in color.
In more recent times it was easy to tell a marked police car from a civilian one. Even without its flashers on, a police car had a telltale outline on its roof: the lightbar.
But lately I noticed that the city is shifting to a “stealth” car, i.e., a marked car without a rack of red lights atop its roof. Now the emergency flashers are installed inside the grillwork and along the edge of the windshield.
The other night I went for a walk along the main drag into town, a four lane straightaway where people are known to speed. I noticed two cars stopped next to each other, facing in opposite directions, parked along the center yellow stripe. The drivers had their windows rolled down, gabbing. Neither vehicle had its four-way flashers on.
Great, I thought. Some speeding truck or car is going to spot these guys at the last minute. Maybe the speeder will screech up behind them and lay on his horn.
But as I approached the two vehicles, I noticed their markings. Two city police units. If they had been equipped with lightbars, I would have realized that much sooner. Even with dim street lighting, a rooftop flasher rack is easy to spot.
It seems to be part of a trend. The city patrol cars used to be community-friendly light blue and white; now they’re authoritarian black and white. And with them blending in so easily with other vehicles, thanks to the elimination of the lightbar, it suggests a growing police state state-of-mind.
Especially when the Homeland Security helicopter is flying overhead.
# posted by Stan Spire @ 2:58 AM 
