Are there any "low profile" Garda cars? (no lightbars)?

#1 · 01-10-2010 01:11AM #1

Hey all,

Was just mooching about online, and I came across a few images of lightbar-less Police cars and such, and I noticed that I never seen a lightbar-less, but marked, Garda car.

Do they exist?

msg11 · 01-10-2010 01:45AM

There are a few marked small van's with no lightbar ..

Rescue117 · 01-10-2010 10:19AM

They are known in the US as "flat-tops".

donvito99 · 01-10-2010 03:12PM

attachment.php?attachmentid=129527&stc=1&d=1285945909

Here ya go...

gardatrafficop · 01-10-2010 06:39PM

Above picture looks like Patricks day in Clonmel Co Tipp.

01-10-2010 07:20PM

donvito99 wrote: »

Here ya go...

Is that real? Or edited? Looks to be a slight haziness above the car, so I'm not sure.

If real, though, then that's pretty cool. I've seen such before and think it looks pretty unique. I'm surprised they aren't more common about the place.

Irish_polizei · 01-10-2010 08:58PM

Rescue117 wrote: »

They are known in the US as "flat-tops".

No I think there "slick tops" but thats neither here nor there :pac:...we'll not fall out over it :P

donvito99 wrote: »

Here ya go...

And no... as KKV said thats photo-shopped....it defeats the purpose of having a marked car anyway.... what ever notion they have in the US of having marked slick tops beats me....

Terrontress · 01-10-2010 09:36PM

A large factor in not marking a vehicle is the cost.

How much do the blues and siren cost compared to the markings?

I'd imagine that the blues are less expensive and can be salvaged easily from a spent car. Reflective markings need to be tailored to a specific vehicle whereas single type lightbars can be used on numerous vehicles.

So the chances are that you'd see an unmarked car with blues before you would see a marked car with no blues.

eroo · 01-10-2010 09:41PM

Irish_polizei wrote: »

And no... as KKV said thats photo-shopped....it defeats the purpose of having a marked car anyway.... what ever notion they have in the US of having marked slick tops beats me....

+1

I think it just looks like the cars are unfinished!

Delancey · 01-10-2010 09:49PM

Well done for spotting that was photoshopped KKV - dunno how some people spot it a mile off , me - I'm just gullible

01-10-2010 10:17PM

Irish_polizei wrote: »

what ever notion they have in the US of having marked slick tops beats me....

Whilst I obviously don't know the reasoning, I would assume that the theory behind them is that when you stop and look at the car, it is clearly a Police car and there's no doubting that whatsoever, but if you're driving and it's amidst a sea of cars travelling on a road, it would be fairly disguised, as there is no lightbar popping up above the height of other cars.

If you're driving along and they wave you over to the side of the road, you'll know they're genuine, whereas with an unmarked car, there can sometimes be iffy circumstances when people might not feel safe stopping (I believe there was a thread on here recently about someone who didn't stop for what he believes could have been an unmarked car).

And ye're all correct, they're not called Low Profile cars at all. That name was just stuck on my head when making the thread. I believe "low profile" is a clear/transparent lightbar? I'm not the best with the terminology.

Hooch · 01-10-2010 11:32PM

Irish_polizei wrote: »

.it defeats the purpose of having a marked car anyway.... what ever notion they have in the US of having marked slick tops beats me....

I disagree.......many a time I have often cursed the light bars on marked cars......sitting in traffic waiting for a car to come by......they spot the light bar and turn off a side street........and were stuck in traffic.

Also handy for RTA offences like seat belt and mobile phone. I think they would be a great idea here......once there is plenty blue lights on the front windscreen/grill.

Irish_polizei · 01-10-2010 11:48PM

On second proper non prejudice indepth thoughts ye are all right......it wouldnt be a bad idea.....but its like suiting up and forgetting to wear your trousers though....

eroo · 02-10-2010 12:54AM

nice guy always wrote: »

Also handy for RTA offences like seat belt and mobile phone. I think they would be a great idea here......once there is plenty blue lights on the front windscreen/grill.

Just admit it.. you want a marked car with no lightbar, and just the single attachable blue light that you can pop up on the roof whilst adjusting your sunglasses!?

The most ridiculous thing is having the lightbar on when on patrol. It merely serves to warn people of your presence, and anyone commiting an offence under RTA, or in some cases POA, can see you coming before you see them!

02-10-2010 07:38AM

eroo wrote: »

The most ridiculous thing is having the lightbar on when on patrol. It merely serves to warn people of your presence, and anyone commiting an offence under RTA, or in some cases POA, can see you coming before you see them!

It also serves to show people that you are on patrol in an area. You could drive an un-marked car through an area all day and people will say they never see the gardaí. Drive a marked one through once and it's a different story.

And while we all want to detect crime it's even better when no crime occurs.

Terrontress · 02-10-2010 08:15AM

Am I correct in thinking that under the relevant legislation, there is no difference between reflective markings on a vehicle and lights?

Irish_polizei · 02-10-2010 12:24PM

foreign wrote: »

It also serves to show people that you are on patrol in an area. You could drive an un-marked car through an area all day and people will say they never see the gardaí. Drive a marked one through once and it's a different story.

And while we all want to detect crime it's even better when no crime occurs.

Yeh thats the other thing too this high vis policing...Im sure the seniors could through up a few arguments against it fairly quickly if they wanted.....it would be all down to expense at the end of the day :rolleyes:

02-10-2010 02:23PM

foreign wrote: »

It also serves to show people that you are on patrol in an area. You could drive an un-marked car through an area all day and people will say they never see the gardaí. Drive a marked one through once and it's a different story.

And while we all want to detect crime it's even better when no crime occurs.

I don't really think that's a great argument, to be honest.

A Garda car is easy enough to spot without it's lightbar on, with the lights turned on, you're just giving people a better chance to see you than they would have had.

If Scumbag A is going to break into a building, or smash up a car, etc. and he's about to start off his scumbag activities, but he sees a blue halo coming down the road, he's not going to proceed to break in or damage anything. He will just sit aside and wait until the Gardaì have passed him by. He also then knows that a Garda car has just passed by the area, and it's now quite unlikely there's gonna be another one for a while.

He can now freely go along and do some damage.

If someone's going to break the law, they're going to do it regardless of whether or not the Gardaì have their lights on. I'd rather see someone smash up a car, and have a Garda car pull up beside them during it, than have the car be damaged after a Garda car has already passed through an area.

I don't believe that a light bar being turned on prevents crime in any way at all.

Rialtas · 03-10-2010 01:56PM

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't believe that a light bar being turned on prevents crime in any way at all.

I'd say we're talking about different policing scenarios here. The lit up light bars are useful in public order situations, i.e. Washington Street at 2am on a Friday night. They add to the high - profile surge you'd often see at the weekends

They're probably redundant out on a country road with low ditches at 4am on a Friday night when you're trying to intercept drink drivers. Even the old light bars with the GARDA backlit with red had a similar nullifying effect in the country.

Anyway I thought it was just the Federal Signal bars that were introduced in 2001 that had the function? I never see the newer Haztec ones lit up.

goldie fish · 03-10-2010 02:18PM

Traffic corps in monaghan had a mondeo without a lightbar for a while. Full markings, no lightbar, just screen mounted strobes.(before the corner strobes were introduced).

It made sense at the time. Discreet for traffic, yet at the same time clearly identifiable, given the "situation" on the border.
It even had a roof number.

ILA · 04-10-2010 04:22PM

When I was in America, it was fairly common to see "slick tops" which were basically marked cars without a light-bar but with low profile lights on the front. Have to say that they were quite effective and were awkward to spot, generally parked under overpass bridges on the Freeway.

Got nabbed by one once as well. Very similiar to this type:

sdanseo · 04-10-2010 07:35PM

Terrontress wrote: »

Am I correct in thinking that under the relevant legislation, there is no difference between reflective markings on a vehicle and lights?

A Garda car is a Garda car. Could be painted bright pink and the law would see no difference.

I was under the impression slicktops in the US were also used to save fuel economy? although granted in traffic you can't tell the difference unless you're right in front of or behind them so obvious benefits there too.

Mise thinks they look silly anyway.

04-10-2010 09:59PM

sdonn wrote: »

A Garda car is a Garda car. Could be painted bright pink and the law would see no difference.

I could be taking his post completely wrongly, which is why i didn't reply to it, but I think he means from a safety standpoint?

ie; if you have a bicycle with no lights, is it ok to just wear a reflective jacket.

So the scenario that ran through my head when I read his post was; If you plough into a Garda car parked on a motorway at a crash scene, for example, can you claim you didn't see it, as it had no flashing lightbar.

Tango November. · 05-10-2010 05:19PM

I was out and about today and I saw a mondeo with markings on the boot and only on the doors and not over the wheel arches and garda was on the bonnet.

The light bar had Garda wrote in tiny writing it also had the red's so i presumed it was traffic there was no aerials and the men in it looked the part .

I also saw one of the new opels they lit up prity well but the siern is brutal.

TN.

Irish_polizei · 05-10-2010 05:33PM

Tango November. wrote: »

I was out and about today and I saw a mondeo with markings on the boot and only on the doors and not over the wheel arches and garda was on the bonnet.

The light bar had Garda wrote in tiny writing it also had the red's so i presumed it was traffic there was no aerials and the men in it looked the part .

I also saw one of the new opels they lit up prity well but the siern is brutal.

TN.

Yeh no doubt that mondeo was after being repaired...if ye put any kind of force on them at all they dint badly very easy......

goldie fish · 05-10-2010 05:57PM

Yeah, old pattern lightbar(tiny writing) and the car is after a knock. It was not uncommon for some districts to not bother redoing the stripe, they were getting rammed so often.

Manic Moran · 07-10-2010 09:08PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Whilst I obviously don't know the reasoning, I would assume that the theory behind them is that when you stop and look at the car, it is clearly a Police car and there's no doubting that whatsoever, but if you're driving and it's amidst a sea of cars travelling on a road, it would be fairly disguised, as there is no lightbar popping up above the height of other cars.

If you're driving along and they wave you over to the side of the road, you'll know they're genuine, whereas with an unmarked car, there can sometimes be iffy circumstances when people might not feel safe stopping (I believe there was a thread on here recently about someone who didn't stop for what he believes could have been an unmarked car).

That's about the size of it. The all-white slick-top CHP Chargers are quite nasty, as the Charger is a little less distinctly 'police' than the Crown Vics: You have to start looking for antennae or license plates and need to be a bit closer for that.

Indeed, there are some slick-top cars with very low-vis markings that only show up when reflecting lights or at certain angles/distances. Known as 'stealth' cruisers.

There are also some cost issues, slick-tops obviously give less drag, and less prone to damage.

And ye're all correct, they're not called Low Profile cars at all. That name was just stuck on my head when making the thread. I believe "low profile" is a clear/transparent lightbar? I'm not the best with the terminology.

This would be a low-profile light bar.

NTM

sdanseo · 07-10-2010 11:08PM

ILA wrote: »

When I was in America, it was fairly common to see "slick tops" which were basically marked cars without a light-bar but with low profile lights on the front. Have to say that they were quite effective and were awkward to spot, generally parked under overpass bridges on the Freeway.

Got nabbed by one once as well. Very similiar to this type:

Is that a siren mounted on the front bullbar? What a silly place to put it, gonna be broken with a small knock - and the CHP seem to do a lot of PITing

Corcioch · 08-10-2010 08:59AM

sdonn wrote: »

Is that a siren mounted on the front bullbar? What a silly place to put it, gonna be broken with a small knock - and the CHP seem to do a lot of PITing

Where else would you put it???

It is protected there by bull bars.

Hooch · 08-10-2010 06:31PM

Corcioch wrote: »

Where else would you put it???

It is protected there by bull bars.

And its much MUCH better to be outside rather than behind an engine block.

Manic Moran · 08-10-2010 07:39PM

It would be kindof muffled if you kept it behind the engine block under the hood, wouldn't it? I'm thinking not so much for the siren sound as much as the 'megaphone' function.

NTM

Are there any "low profile" Garda cars? (no lightbars)?

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