parking lights

[ngcsubutterbar]

how many of you guys leave them on as a matter of habbit and to let 'responding officers' know where you are without having to look for street numbers?

[ngcsubutterbar]

I know some of you must do it. I wouldn't have asked otherwise to confirm this trick

[oscarmitre]

It's a good idea to leave them on, they do catch the eye.

[Oldbillplod]

I leave them on for several reasons.
To prevent the car from getting damaged because people think you arent going to be long as youve left them on.
As a deterrent and reassurance to the community.
And so I know which car is mine when I get back to it ;)

[Ianscape]

I leave my parking lights and my cruising lights in my light bar on.

Ian

[hwpd]

Our officers leave them on all the time during night shifts so people can see you, if they respond to any call, they usually park on the street in front of the house.

[99TAC]

Our officers leave them on all the time during night shifts so people can see you, if they respond to any call, they usually park on the street in front of the house.

I thought that parking directly infront of the house was a no-no. I know it's not always possible, but for safety reasons I heard you should park at least one house away so that you can make a safe approach intead of pulling right into a bad situation. Just curious.

[hwpd]

If they serve a warrant they usually park a few houses behind, unless it's a traffic warrant. If its a complaint, they park on the street in front of the house and that goes to domestics etc.

[mcsap]

Our cars have enough reflectorized tape on them that they light up as though the parking lights were left on.

[corporal716]

If they serve a warrant they usually park a few houses behind, unless it's a traffic warrant. If its a complaint, they park on the street in front of the house and that goes to domestics etc.

I never park in front of the house in urban areas, unless another deputy has already made contact. I want to be able to survey the scene as I approach. I may want to listen for a minute or wait for another unit before going to the door.

Normaly I will leave my parking lights on so that other deputies don't pass by the house. On shots fired calls, I leave the car blacked out. I don't want me or my car to become a target.

[HiTechCj]

Greetings:

Parking in front of the location is almost always a bad tactic. However, leaving the parking lights on has a number of advantageous, most of which have previously been ennumerated. Except when ever we responded to a night time silent burglary alarm we usually appoached "darked out." IN fact, our cruisers were equipped with a switch to kill the brake lights. Like everything, there is a trade off. In this instance, stealth and safety. Absent a policy, its your call on your call.

Leaving the overheads (rotating emergency lights) on is usually bad - when you roll up to a scene at night they can distract you and screw up your night vision. Plus, parking lights generally don't draw a crowd whereas overheads always do.

Keep Well,

Raymond
www.hitechcj.com