what are "general purpose" police?
06-29-2011, 07:13 PM
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what are "general purpose" police? I saw a police car on the freeway today. it was a hemi charger and all it said in the back was POLICE. The plate was CA EXEMPT so I know its an official vehicle. The side said General Purpose Police. They usually are identified with a city as Police are, by definition, owned by the city. State police in CA are called CHP, and county are Sheriff.
I would have thought they were security but first off they had the CA EXEMPT plates and their light bar had red and BLUE lights. kinda confused, is this a new thing?
I would have thought they were security but first off they had the CA EXEMPT plates and their light bar had red and BLUE lights. kinda confused, is this a new thing?
06-30-2011, 12:15 AM
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More than likely a brand new car either being tested by a manufacturer or it hadnt recieved the proper badging. Sounds more like a new car that hasnt been bought by an agency yet. Even before theyre bought they are registered in CA as emergency orpolice vehicles explaining the exempt plates.
As for unmarked cars, especially suv's, just look in the grill. Youll see either red/blue or clear LED's.
As for unmarked cars, especially suv's, just look in the grill. Youll see either red/blue or clear LED's.
06-30-2011, 12:30 AM
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Here, some police cars here are marked with 'traffic enforcement' and others with 'drug enforcement', which I assume denotes the primary purpose of that car/officer. They do usually also say '<City Name> Police' or whatnot as well... Perhaps in that city 'general purpose' is just a marking to denote that it's NOT devoted to one specfic area of enforcement or another.
06-30-2011, 01:23 AM
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idk.. but a couple years back a black n white .. tahoe .. General Police pulled me overr for having my foglights on..
"off road " bumper lights while driving on the freeway.. and because they're sposed to have the covers on them..
look like COPS to me.. gave me a ticket
"off road " bumper lights while driving on the freeway.. and because they're sposed to have the covers on them..
look like COPS to me.. gave me a ticket
06-30-2011, 02:25 AM
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That's weird I saw a CHP Charger today. I didn't know they joined the Charger bandwagon. It was about 1:30 and they exited the 210 freeway at Lincoln in Pasadelna.
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06-30-2011, 12:05 PM
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idk.. but a couple years back a black n white .. tahoe .. General Police pulled me overr for having my foglights on..
"off road " bumper lights while driving on the freeway.. and because they're sposed to have the covers on them..
look like COPS to me.. gave me a ticket
"off road " bumper lights while driving on the freeway.. and because they're sposed to have the covers on them..
look like COPS to me.. gave me a ticket
06-30-2011, 12:57 PM
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i let my friend drive my car once, and he got us pulled over by al all black unmarked crown vic. two officers got out of the car wearing jeans and polo shirts with embroidered badges. They were DEA officers. They told my friend, "I dont normally enforce traffic, but you were driving like an a$$hole" they wrote him a ticket and made me drive home!
so long story short, any "officer" can pull you over in pretty much any kind of car, so just be careful. Im even careful around firetrucks, ambulances, etc because ive heard that they will just radio in to the cops to come find you.
so long story short, any "officer" can pull you over in pretty much any kind of car, so just be careful. Im even careful around firetrucks, ambulances, etc because ive heard that they will just radio in to the cops to come find you.
07-01-2011, 06:25 AM
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yea.. the k9 unit.. the school police still goes out about 3 mile radius from school and patrols around frat / party areas too
07-01-2011, 10:14 AM
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From my understanding there is no such thing as the idea that if you were to get pulled over say by an Irvine PD officer somehow in Tustin or Santa Ana that he is breaking some sort of jurisdiction law ("Hey man, you can't arrest me! You're out of your jurisdiction!") is false. Technically, an officer could make a traffic stop and enforce laws in any state. I'm sure there are certain technicalities that come into play, but still.
07-01-2011, 10:25 AM
#14
We've got a version of General Police in GA too. Georgia Dept of Public Safety. White cars with typical squad car appointments with GA Dept of Public Safety on the side. I think they're part of the state patrol, but their cars are marked differently.
A friend got pulled over for one while showing off his new full exhaust on his Z28. Jumped on the hwy for one exit, got it to 120 in a 5 lane and then got off at the next exit. At the top of the ramp one of those guys pulls up behind us with blue lights, we make a right at the light and pull into the first driveway, he pulls up next to us, chews us out a bit from his car and says it's a warning. Looked like he was busy on the way to somewhere else. Buddy lucked out.
A friend got pulled over for one while showing off his new full exhaust on his Z28. Jumped on the hwy for one exit, got it to 120 in a 5 lane and then got off at the next exit. At the top of the ramp one of those guys pulls up behind us with blue lights, we make a right at the light and pull into the first driveway, he pulls up next to us, chews us out a bit from his car and says it's a warning. Looked like he was busy on the way to somewhere else. Buddy lucked out.
07-01-2011, 10:47 AM
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So they aren't just test cars or for sale emergency vehicles. This General Purpose stuff is news to me. Good thing to know that they can ticket you.
Yes we do???? Nate you're not pulling over anybody.
Yes we do???? Nate you're not pulling over anybody.
07-01-2011, 12:14 PM
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From my understanding there is no such thing as the idea that if you were to get pulled over say by an Irvine PD officer somehow in Tustin or Santa Ana that he is breaking some sort of jurisdiction law ("Hey man, you can't arrest me! You're out of your jurisdiction!") is false. Technically, an officer could make a traffic stop and enforce laws in any state. I'm sure there are certain technicalities that come into play, but still.
Police: On the CITY payroll. They are direct employees of the city and only have jurisdiction on the streets of the city that employs them. Their jurisdiction does NOT include freeways. They might be able to stop you, but they need to call the appropriate officer to cite you.
Sheriff: On the COUNTY payroll. Their jurisdiction is anywhere in the county that employs them. This includes freeways and streets. sometimes a city will not have their own police force but has a contract with the sheriff where they have a certain number of vehicles that belong to the city and act as their police force. Those officers still have jurisdiction on the freeways.
CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: On the STATE payroll. They have jurisdiction ANYWHERE in the state. people think that because of their name they only have jurisdiction on the freeways, not true. These guys are the state troopers.
this is why I was confused with the POLICE car that I saw. It did not specify a City, but yet it said POLICE. Ive seen similar cars but ended up being security officers (private) but those guys dont have CA EXEMPT vehicles.
Also, the idea that its a test car doesnt seem valid. It needs to say "out of service" if its not patrolling. These guys had uniforms on and they even flashed their lights for a second. I thought they were going to pull me over because I kept looking at them.
07-01-2011, 04:54 PM
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Not true. My dad was a city councilman (back in the day) and his career is in city, county, and state politics. He has explained it to me. These only apply to CA as each state has their own setup.
Police: On the CITY payroll. They are direct employees of the city and only have jurisdiction on the streets of the city that employs them. Their jurisdiction does NOT include freeways. They might be able to stop you, but they need to call the appropriate officer to cite you.
Sheriff: On the COUNTY payroll. Their jurisdiction is anywhere in the county that employs them. This includes freeways and streets. sometimes a city will not have their own police force but has a contract with the sheriff where they have a certain number of vehicles that belong to the city and act as their police force. Those officers still have jurisdiction on the freeways.
CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: On the STATE payroll. They have jurisdiction ANYWHERE in the state. people think that because of their name they only have jurisdiction on the freeways, not true. These guys are the state troopers.
this is why I was confused with the POLICE car that I saw. It did not specify a City, but yet it said POLICE. Ive seen similar cars but ended up being security officers (private) but those guys dont have CA EXEMPT vehicles.
Also, the idea that its a test car doesnt seem valid. It needs to say "out of service" if its not patrolling. These guys had uniforms on and they even flashed their lights for a second. I thought they were going to pull me over because I kept looking at them.
Police: On the CITY payroll. They are direct employees of the city and only have jurisdiction on the streets of the city that employs them. Their jurisdiction does NOT include freeways. They might be able to stop you, but they need to call the appropriate officer to cite you.
Sheriff: On the COUNTY payroll. Their jurisdiction is anywhere in the county that employs them. This includes freeways and streets. sometimes a city will not have their own police force but has a contract with the sheriff where they have a certain number of vehicles that belong to the city and act as their police force. Those officers still have jurisdiction on the freeways.
CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: On the STATE payroll. They have jurisdiction ANYWHERE in the state. people think that because of their name they only have jurisdiction on the freeways, not true. These guys are the state troopers.
this is why I was confused with the POLICE car that I saw. It did not specify a City, but yet it said POLICE. Ive seen similar cars but ended up being security officers (private) but those guys dont have CA EXEMPT vehicles.
Also, the idea that its a test car doesnt seem valid. It needs to say "out of service" if its not patrolling. These guys had uniforms on and they even flashed their lights for a second. I thought they were going to pull me over because I kept looking at them.
The law states in CA that if an officers primary duty is traffic then they must be in a uniform and a marked car. I fought a ticket after being pulled over and cited for tinted windows by an UC ICE in Riverside fishing, based on that law I won.
07-01-2011, 06:23 PM
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Not true. My dad was a city councilman (back in the day) and his career is in city, county, and state politics. He has explained it to me. These only apply to CA as each state has their own setup.
Police: On the CITY payroll. They are direct employees of the city and only have jurisdiction on the streets of the city that employs them. Their jurisdiction does NOT include freeways. They might be able to stop you, but they need to call the appropriate officer to cite you.
Sheriff: On the COUNTY payroll. Their jurisdiction is anywhere in the county that employs them. This includes freeways and streets. sometimes a city will not have their own police force but has a contract with the sheriff where they have a certain number of vehicles that belong to the city and act as their police force. Those officers still have jurisdiction on the freeways.
CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: On the STATE payroll. They have jurisdiction ANYWHERE in the state. people think that because of their name they only have jurisdiction on the freeways, not true. These guys are the state troopers.
this is why I was confused with the POLICE car that I saw. It did not specify a City, but yet it said POLICE. Ive seen similar cars but ended up being security officers (private) but those guys dont have CA EXEMPT vehicles.
Also, the idea that its a test car doesnt seem valid. It needs to say "out of service" if its not patrolling. These guys had uniforms on and they even flashed their lights for a second. I thought they were going to pull me over because I kept looking at them.
Police: On the CITY payroll. They are direct employees of the city and only have jurisdiction on the streets of the city that employs them. Their jurisdiction does NOT include freeways. They might be able to stop you, but they need to call the appropriate officer to cite you.
Sheriff: On the COUNTY payroll. Their jurisdiction is anywhere in the county that employs them. This includes freeways and streets. sometimes a city will not have their own police force but has a contract with the sheriff where they have a certain number of vehicles that belong to the city and act as their police force. Those officers still have jurisdiction on the freeways.
CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: On the STATE payroll. They have jurisdiction ANYWHERE in the state. people think that because of their name they only have jurisdiction on the freeways, not true. These guys are the state troopers.
this is why I was confused with the POLICE car that I saw. It did not specify a City, but yet it said POLICE. Ive seen similar cars but ended up being security officers (private) but those guys dont have CA EXEMPT vehicles.
Also, the idea that its a test car doesnt seem valid. It needs to say "out of service" if its not patrolling. These guys had uniforms on and they even flashed their lights for a second. I thought they were going to pull me over because I kept looking at them.