Story about FHP marauders

[Mad1]

After seeing Dennis' post about the accident, I tried to google more information. Instead, I found this story (http://sptimes.com/2005/05/16/Tampabay/Stealthy_trap_lurks_i.shtml) from earlier this month in Tampa Bay Tribune about the FHP's stealth marauders.

Here's the part that caught my attention:


The FHP in December debuted two decoy cars, dubbed Marauders, to patrol Tampa Bay highways - interstates 4, 75 and 275. Last month the FHP added another of the sporty Mercury sedans because the first two have been so successful.

"Our marauder troopers are daily catching people doing the most bizarre things," said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Trooper Larry Coggins.

In the first quarter of this year, the two Marauders issued citations for more than 600 careless and reckless driving violations, Coggins said.


Mad1
Jeremy

[Slowpoke]

sounds like these are paying for themselves REALLY quickly!




After seeing Dennis' post about the accident, I tried to google more information. Instead, I found this story (http://sptimes.com/2005/05/16/Tampabay/Stealthy_trap_lurks_i.shtml) from earlier this month in Tampa Bay Tribune about the FHP's stealth marauders.

Here's the part that caught my attention:




Mad1
Jeremy

[Cobra25]

I guess driving the Marauder's keep FHP Officer's really busy.

[texascorvette]

Unmarked patrol cars and motorcycles are all the evidence that one would ever need to prove that The Gestapo didn't disappear with the end of World War II.

[CBT]

The Gestapo drove Marauders? Well cat my dog! Those kooky bastards....

[engine23ccvfd]

Unmarked patrol cars and motorcycles are all the evidence that one would ever need to prove that The Gestapo didn't disappear with the end of World War II.

Friends dad with a tatoo on his arm would strongly disagree

[SergntMac]

From traffic tickets to the Holocaust in 6 easy posts...This has got to be some kind of record...

[martyo]

From traffic tickets to the Holocaust in 6 easy posts...This has got to be some kind of record...

And all without a long diatribe from any site memebre. 'Magine that! :D

[Al Goguen]

OHHHHH??, I don't know how many times I have witnessed the coward
law breakers slowing way down and looking so meek and mild when they
come up on a marked car, but act like complete idiots when they think
there is no marked cars around......
I think the unmarked cars and Motorcycles (when used) is a great idea and
I laff my ass off when I see an unmarked car with some dummy on the side
getting a ticket.....Useally some BMW, or ricer or even a smart ass
corvette driver.......
Ya don't want to get pulled over by an unmarked car????Don't break the
law!!!!!!! If you do, don't complain about it when your caught.....:beer:




Unmarked patrol cars and motorcycles are all the evidence that one would ever need to prove that The Gestapo didn't disappear with the end of World War II.

[TooManyFords]

From traffic tickets to the Holocaust in 6 easy posts...This has got to be some kind of record...
All that was missing was someone playing the "religion" card!

[twolow]

I think its sick to compare the two.

The Germans killed and prisoned innocent people who did no wrong except to be a different race.

I can guarantee that if you are innocent in Florida you will not get pulled over. If you speed or drive silly, you are not innocent.

I have not heard of the FHP shooting speeders on site or taking innocent familys out of their house in the dead of night, looting, killing, and raping along the way.

There is no law (here) that a police car needs to be marked. Most are marked to show those around your town that they are there, deterring crime by their presence, and to make me feel safe when I see one pass by my house. On a interstate, its on different turf. A marked car driving down the interstate is not preventing a home from being broken into nor are they keeping that bank from being robbed. All they (marked cars) manage to do is slow down everyone to the legal limit a half mile in front and behind them, then everyone speeds back up.

Kudos to the FHP and may all highway patrol units be unmarked.

[Mad1]

All that was missing was someone playing the "religion" card!

Good point, so here goes.

If only atheists, jews, mormons, and norsemen couldn't get drivers' licenses, then you could be assured of sending to heaven anyone stupid enough not to get out of your way when you blow by them at 100+ mph, while giving them the finger and spouting Bible verses in Florida. And don't get me started on why reading the Koran keeps gasoline prices high.

Anyway, I'd rather have unmarked cars keeping people quietly obeying the laws than have to live with the current speed trap mentality here in Nashville. (People drive like maniacs, except for the portions where the cruisers like to lurk ... so driving the speed limit can actually be dangerous.)

Mad1
Jeremy

P.S. The above post is satire and if you can't understand what that means ... go stand outside in the rain and look up, so hopefully you'll drown rather than reproduce.

[rocknrod]

..............a smart ass
corvette driver.........Corvette drivers are smart assed ?
Wow, all corvette drivers are smart assed.
Hmmmmmm what a strange thing to say.
I wonder now, could it be the car. Or the lack of being able to HAVE the
car that makes a person say that ?
"ALL" Corvette drivers . . . . . wow.

[Donny Carlson]

Hot Rod had a brief article about the FHP Marauders this month, and it was clear they weren't pleased. According to the article, the cars were donated by the insurance industry, who has a vested interest in having tickets written to justify rasing rates. They also pointed out that there is virtually no enforcement of left lane bandits who drive too slow and hog the road.

[texascorvette]

You have to be careful driving a Corvette. Most law inforcement officers are pretty good guys, but there are a lot of jealous smokies out there who have the "little man syndrome" and want to show off their badge and gun. They are usually the small town cop who can't get a real job, and they think the worst possible thing you can do is to be guilty of driving a Corvette--whether you are breaking any actual laws or not. I don't personally know a huge number of cops, but most of the ones I've met or known think that their motorcycle brothers are a little different breed of cat.

Besides, it's a helluvalot safer and brings in far more money for the local JP and yourself if you sneak around in your unmarked car or on your motorcycle harassing drivers and jaywalkers instead of going after real perpetrators of real crimes who might even be armed and dangerous. A person could get hurt or even killed while actually looking for real criminals.

[engine23ccvfd]

You have to be careful driving a Corvette. Most law inforcement officers are pretty good guys, but there are a lot of jealous smokies out there who have the "little man syndrome" and want to show off their badge and gun. They are usually the small town cop who can't get a real job, and they think the worst possible thing you can do is to be guilty of driving a Corvette--whether you are breaking any actual laws or not. I don't personally know a huge number of cops, but most of the ones I've met or known think that their motorcycle brothers are a little different breed of cat.

Besides, it's a helluvalot safer and brings in far more money for the local JP and yourself if you sneak around in your unmarked car or on your motorcycle harassing drivers and jaywalkers instead of going after real perpetrators of real crimes who might even be armed and dangerous. A person could get hurt or even killed while actually looking for real criminals.

Are you on crack....dont know any cops that are jealous of a corvette. Dont get me wrong they are nice cars but they are still chevy's. Is it sneaking around to do your job? Contrary to popular belief auto accidents kill a whole truckload more people than murder every year. You ever scene a baby fly out a windshiled cause some lazy mom didnt secure the kid to the seat, was hauling ass, and hit a broken down truck on the shoulder? Maybe if a sneaky cop (with a JP in his back pocket) had wrote a ticket the accident could have been prevented.

By the way the most dangerous thing a cop will do is stand on the side of the road writing a ticket.

[Smokie]

I have no problem with unmarked vehicles, blending in is how you catch people being themselves. LEO's are no different, better or worse than we are. They have prejudices and bad days just like we ALL do.

Many years ago one of the my son's had an accident in which an intoxicated young woman hit his car late at night, the Highway patrolman right before my son was carried off in an ambulance made comments to my son's girlfriend (today his wife) about her ".............old man" the remark was racial and based solely on the name he saw in his license and assumptions he had about those people.

I was at the scene with my wife and camera, I sent my wife and daughter in law to the hospital with my son and I remained behind to ensure that the investigation was fair, since my instincts told me the officer was protecting the young woman and he had made up his mind about my son.

I took pictures of everything, cars, skid marks, location, the drunk woman and officer interviewing her. The officer allowed the woman to drink water and coffee and waited two hours before he did breathalizer test and made her walk a straight line and touch the tip of her nose. I interviewed witnesses myself and wrote everything down.

I said little to the officer, just simply allowed him to see that I trusted nothing that he was doing and that I was conducting my own investigation, I had pictures and interviews with witnesses and written and signed statements by the people that saw the accident. After 2 1/2 hours the officer was done. Right before he left I walked up to him and looked him in the eyes and told him " I hope your personal prejudices will not keep you from doing your job " after that I left and headed for the hospital.

My son and my daughter in law were both admitted to hospital with injuries. Early that same morning the Officer showed up at the hospital and apologized to me and my daughter-in-law for his poor conduct and admitted that the woman reminded him of his daughter and he had been protecting her, he did however go to the party that witnesses had told him girl had just left and interviewed people there that told him that the girl had been drinking heavily.

The moral of my story....cops are human, no better, no worse than any of us....politely and firmly stand your ground, follow the law and document everything to protect yourself.

[johnfain]

Originally Posted by texascorvette
Unmarked patrol cars and motorcycles are all the evidence that one would ever need to prove that The Gestapo didn't disappear with the end of World War II.

Explain the logic behind this foolish statement. Keep your politics to yourself here... commie.

[twolow]

Unmarked patrol cars and motorcycles are all the evidence that one would ever need to prove that The Gestapo didn't disappear with the end of World War II.
Johnfain, he was replying to this message. Your getting onto the wrong messenger :help:

[texascorvette]

When all the money from traffic fines is donated to charities rather than going into the city and state coffers, then I'll believe that the rigorous enforcement of traffic laws is done for the safety of the motoring public. Until then, it's just another way for government agencies to scam money from the public.

[AzMarauder]

Unmarked patrol cars and motorcycles are all the evidence that one would ever need to prove that The Gestapo didn't disappear with the end of World War II.
Well.. I don't like getting "caught" doing something I am not supposed to be doing... OTOH.... if they aren't bothering folks going 5-10 over the posted on the highway and are bagging the fools that are driving recklessly... more power to them.

[rocknrod]

We....

Will not stand for this......

[twolow]

When all the money from traffic fines is donated to charities rather than going into the city and state coffers, then I'll believe that the rigorous enforcement of traffic laws is done for the safety of the motoring public. Until then, it's just another way for government agencies to scam money from the public.I don't believe it would qualify as a scam as a scam suckers in the innocent. I don't pay fines or get tickets for doing the speed limit so I am the innocent. If you speed, drive wreckless, and otherwise increse the % of causing harm to others...you are not innocent.

When families get killed from drunk drivers and speeders we scream that more needs to be done.

When they do more, we scream that they are doing too much.

[David Morton]

.... if they aren't bothering folks going 5-10 over the posted on the highway and are bagging the fools that are driving recklessly... more power to them.Agreed. I routinely do 10% over the speed limit here in Florida and have never gotten a ticket here in 31 years for speeding.

Cops here kinda like Marauders, we be waving at each other all the time. :D

Sad that those Corvette owners don't have that luxury. :lol:

FHP has always been a clearly professional organization in my experience. Their training must be very good. It's the city-kiddies and county-mounties in some select jurisdictions that can be a problem. Like Jessup, Florida, the speed-trap capitol of the world. You never want to go through Jessup.

[CBT]

Explain the logic behind this foolish statement. Keep your politics to yourself here... commie.Hmmmm, where should I start. I guess with a little backround info. My Polish Grandparents met at a forced labor camp, growing crops to feed the Nazi war machine. Luckily and thank God, they weren't killed. My father was born "over there" and they migrated to the U.S. in 1948. I'm first generation. I'm also a quarter Cherokee, obviously from my mothers side. I'll save the story of what the Cherokee and the rest of the Indians went through. My Dad joined the Marines and served during Viet Nam, he wasn't drafted. Pretty courageous of him in my book considering he wasn't born here. I also joined the military, and have been in for 17 years. For you to call me a commie hurts, and I really mean that. I go to war to, among other things, defend your Freedom of Speech, because in my heart I believe violence IS the answer to problems (including mine), so rage on with your name calling and I'll rage on making jokes about the Gestapo if for no other reason than because of them I might not have been born in the first place.

[texascorvette]

Man, I'm sorry I started all that. But I still think unmarked cars and motorcycles and "bears in the air" are a chicken**** way to scam money from the motoring public. If the object is public safety and not just an easy way to make money, then line the roads with marked cars and spend the motorcycle and airplane money going after real criminals. I apologize for the "Gestapo" comment, but unmarked cars, helicopters, airplanes and sneaky motorcycle cops in traffic enforcement are still the equivilant of the "secret police".