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Jerk of The Day

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/593/campbell_county_popos_at_white_castle.jpg
...because every jerk thinks they are...Special!


Sighted by: lamebums
Vehicle: Multiple Crown Vic's
Place: White Castle off US 27 in Cold Spring, KY
Date: Late March '08, ~11:00 PM

I was at White Castle with a buddy of mine--we were taking advantage of 69 cent bacon cheeseburgers when at about 11 PM right on the button (shift change perhaps?) a whole row of Campbell County and Cold Spring police cars pile into White Castle (two Cold Spring cops not pictured, but they were to the right).

I know White Castle is the only thing open late at night around here and cops get free food...but all the engines idling. Those 4.6 Ford Modular V8's guzzle gas while idling there for over an hour...all of them. I'm sure it's supposedly a safety procedure, so cops can immediately jump in their cars if there's an emergency...but how long does it really take to start a car? Two seconds? Perhaps headquarters knows when they turn their cars off so they want to look like they're all actually on the beat and not just hanging out at White Castle? They do this on a daily basis so I'll let you do the math on the amount of gas burned just idling and Ghg 's emitted.

One of these cops is the same guy who later tailgated me and then gave me a lecture about speed limits.

"Dude, you're going too slow. At least do the speed limit..." :(

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Hi Auston:

___I would never condone but can understand at most one of the police vehicles idling to keep the computers and comm. gear up but not all four :angry:

___Good Luck

___Wayne

"Dude, you're going too slow. At least do the speed limit..."

Hah! At least....so, thats not really the limit then is it?

I've never seen an emergency vehicle turned off unless completely out of service.

Here the ambulance pretty much always runs unless it is in the garage and the police cars run pretty much all the time.

It annoys me too. I'm paying the damn fuel bill.

Hah! At least....so, thats not really the limit then is it?

Campbell County and Cold Spring apparently wants you to do at least the speed limit. Thing is, Highland Heights just three miles up the road busts people for six over on a regular basis.

Northern Kentucky...population 500,000 tops, with at my count 26 different police departments. :(

All of the county cops I know turn their car off when they aren't in it. Maybe it depends on their county or state regulations.

Campbell County and Cold Spring apparently wants you to do at least the speed limit.

Yeah, but lets see it stand up in court. They can't give you a ticket for it, can they?

Yeah, but lets see it stand up in court. They can't give you a ticket for it, can they?

For below the speed limit? I'm sure there's a provision about "impeding the flow of traffic" or something to that effect.

Why can't those cars have a basic autostop feature? It'd be dead easy and cheap to implement, and would save huge amounts of fuel with all the fleet customers.

For several weeks I've been wanting to suggest installing a FAS switch in an entire squad so their laptops, GPS, etc don't reboot.

Why can't those cars have a basic autostop feature? It'd be dead easy and cheap to implement, and would save huge amounts of fuel with all the fleet customers.

I'm thinking performance type hybrid. They could get both a better performing car and a less expensive one to operate. Plus the car could be left "on", and the engine would start as needed to replish battery and keep ICE hot.

It would also be nice if the engine had cylindar cutout so car could have a lean 4cyl most of the time and only go to the full 8cyl when they really need it. There really isn't any reason for police cars to accelerate quickly except in emergies & pursuits.

Sounds like a good application of some of the Power Hybrids I always hate seeing. A hybrid with a HV pack would provide all the accessory power a patrol car needed, while being able to prevent depleting any batteries since it can just lite the engine if it needs to top off the pack.

Some of the hybrid muscle cars can really hall a55 too to catch them bank robbers.

Now if someone would make hybrid muscle at V8 prices it would be a slam dunk.

11011011

i dont think they need to go all that fast, just call back up, im sure three hybrids at 75 will save enough as one v8 staking out at 100mph (of course the hybrids are gonna be at different locations so they can cut the guy off) ..safer and more efficient...im sure the idiot running away will get caught within moments...efficiency in #'s is what I say.

There really isn't any reason for police cars to accelerate quickly except in emergies & pursuits.

It's my experience around here that, on average, cops are some of the more aggressive drivers around.

I'm not dismissing the importance of their mission or professionalism most conduct themselves with, but many I see are very hammer-down, weaving types of drivers.

i dont think they need to go all that fast, just call back up, im sure three hybrids at 75 will save enough as one v8 staking out at 100mph (of course the hybrids are gonna be at different locations so they can cut the guy off) ..safer and more efficient...im sure the idiot running away will get caught within moments...efficiency in #'s is what I say.

But what happens when they need to pull the "run the guy off the road" manuever? That's gonna get ugly if the perp is driving a Caddy, and the Prius driving cop tries to take control.

But what happens when they need to pull the "run the guy off the road" manuever? That's gonna get ugly if the perp is driving a Caddy, and the Prius driving cop tries to take control.Lexus LS 600h (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus_LS#LS_600h_.2F_LS_600h_L)This system generates an output of 438 hp (327 kW), comparable to V12 sedans such as the BMW 760Li (which also produces 438 hp), but the systems total potential power output is 610hp610 hp should be about enough umph to separate your retena. My old Boss 302 Mustang only had 250 hp and that was an insanely powerful car.

Now if we could just get Toyota to build a Lexus Patroller. Take out the leather, nav system, the rest of the bling and stick in plastic and vinyl. Might drop the price from 110k down to 40k to the city's finest. That would get rid of the "whimpy hybrid" stereotype. Although at 610 hp, it would probably burn more gas than the crown vics.

11011011

I don't know about you but I don't want to use my tax dollars to buy police forces lexus cars. I suspect that the crown vic using (over 15 yr old) platform is still much cheaper to maintain and use than that lexus. Now if we had more m/c cops I could deal w/ that...hell my ninja 500 can outrun most cars on the road.

Just fly-in front of the running car throw down a spike strip and they won't get to far!!

Lexus, even stripped down, will cost too much. They use Crown Vics because they're cheap and predictable and familiar. I suspect they'd only go for something with a similar price. How about a simple auto-stop? Keeps the V8 from running while they're doing things like shown in the picture. When they're driving, it's back to business as usual.

Some kind of hybrid would be the best ideal option, but it's not gonna happen. Budgets don't work that way. We're looking for the most gain with the least change and cost.

Hah! At least....so, thats not really the limit then is it?


Hey remember... theirs a war on.

War on terror.... they could strike at ANYTIME! got to always be ready to pepperspray anyone with a variance of opinion.

It's my experience around here that, on average, cops are some of the more aggressive drivers around.

I'm not dismissing the importance of their mission or professionalism most conduct themselves with, but many I see are very hammer-down, weaving types of drivers.


That's why I want to see them in a car with "modes", where they don't have so much power...they don't need it, and shouldn't be using it. And if they spend too much time in "pursuit" mode, their boss should be talking to them.


As far as costs...Many police cars are already being replaced by trucks and SUVs. A 2004 comparison of common cruisers (cars only) showed average mileage at 18 to 23mpg (and we know it will be much less at those tests were similar to EPA and didn't include lots of idel time). My hybrid is saving me about $2000/$2500 a year (vs replaced mini-van and other truck). They should see 3 to 4 times that for a single officer car and as much as 12 times that if the car is used for 3 shifts. That could be between $8000 and $30,000 dollars in gas per year. Now I know everyone's budget is tight, but the payback on the hybrid tech in a police car should be less than 1 year and definatly less than 2 years. Who can't afford to do that?

But we have gotton off topic, so....
Yea, what a bunch of jerks!

idol like that because we have alot of electrical equipment on board..
only takes about 20 minutes with the accessory's running and the engine off to kill a fresh battery..

We also have 250amp alts vs the standard crown vic 90amps

In many jurisdictions, emergency vehicles are required to be left running except when not in service. Perhaps they were all stopping to get something to eat since, like you said, it was the only place open that late. Once a Emergency vehicle is started at shift, it is required to stay running so to prevent the chance that minute possibility that you get in to respond and try to start the vehicle and it not start.
When I was in EMS, the vehicles we had were equipped with a steering column ignition that actually allowed us to remove the key and lock the ignition while the engine remained on. How would you like it if the Paramedics arrived to your house to pick up a loved one, get them packaged up, loaded into the back and go to start teh engine again and hear click, click, click. Then we have to call another unit, wait on it to arrive, then transfer your loved one over, loosing valuable time that could be the difference between life and death.




Just saying. Sometimes there's reasons we don't know about for things that seem to make no sense what so ever. No matter how asinine it may seem.

I was a police officer for 5 years. Your taught not to turn it off. Mainly because of all the equipment there is always a short and it will drain the battery. Plus your not supposed to turn it off so to save time in the event of an emergency. I never really understood that logic.

I know I had one of the older units and it was never turned off except to change oil. 24 hours a day. Smaller towns this is especially true because all shifts use the same vehicle.

Are they not even turned off for fuel stops? If not, that sounds dangerous!!!

Nope. I cant think of anyone that killed the ICE during a fill up. Waste full huh.

Yikes!! Flammable fumes around a hot, running engine! :eek:

I thought just yesterday, while I walked to get my lunch, and watched the flow of traffic, how much faster and more aggressive the cop cars I saw fly by were driving, and I thought the exact same thing, there is the tax dollars at work lol. Of course they would be the first ones to pull you over for going five over the limit, but they are immune. Pretty sad that most of them do this. Several years back, my wife and I nearly got run over one night by two squad cars drag racing...we had to nearly take the ditch. I don't have alot of respect for most of the cops around this area.

I graduated high school with three or four guys who went on to be police officers. At the reunion I asked them about police cars driving fast without their lights or sirens running. They said there are times when they are going in for a bust that they are told not to run the lights and sirens cause it would alert the criminals who'll run and hide like roaches when the lights are turned on. Said their department tells them to use discrection (spelling?) in their speed and to only turn on their lights if necessary like to get past a lighted intersection. The ambulances at our hospital leave them running because of all the electrical and electronic equipment running inside. They said it's rare that they turn off the engine when they're on duty. It's easy to gripe and complain,...it's easier to politely ask why and maybe you'll understand better. Had a hard core enviromentalist on my second ship in the Navy. She was always griping about how much fuel the ship used by starting the boilers 24 hours before getting underway and that we were hurting the enviroment by doing so. One of us had had enough of her rants and told her exactly why we had to do this and that if she didn't like it she could take it up with the Captain personally at Captain's Mast. We didn't like being restricted to the ship 24 hours before getting underway but we knew the reasons why it had to be this way. You start the boilers and steam powered engines too fast and you run the risk of millions of dollars of damages to the equipment as well as a danger of someone rushing and making a mistake that could get everyone in the engine/fireroom steam cooked alive in 600 psi steam at 800 degrees. We did train for emergency proceedures for getting underway in a hurry but it was rare that we ever actually did this because of the dangers. If you want an example of the dangers of working in the belly of a steam driven ship, do a google search using "October 1990 USS Iwo Jima LPH-2 steam" and you'll see what the guys I worked with had to suffer through. There are times I can still hear them screaming in their sleep. I went onboard after the accident. Two went crazy and were taken off in a straight jacket. Many suffered nightmares that had them screaming in terror in their sleep. All cause an idiot Captain was in a rush to go out to sea to go to war. He was an idiot cause they could have tripped and secured that boiler and generator and still got underway and those ten would still be alive today.