POV Question

[FlyMIA]

Well these cars are definitely not G rides because it was a lot of random type of cars from 1990s Toyotas to a new Audi. They have a laminated label on the Dash Board saying Official Government Business United States Secret Service and all the cars have some type of deck or visor light, I have seen the same lable with Treasury Dept, EPA, even seen a car with that laminated piece of paper say it was FBI. My college campus is 2 blocks away from the White House in the middle of DC so I see a lot of these cars, atleast a few a week. Maybe those USSS cars are just some UD officers parking there car near by?

[retdetsgt]

I've had "G rides" ranging from a Ford Taurus to a Cadillac DeVille to a 1986 Firebird with the bird on the hood and all. There may be a reason why they aren't the standard fare of guv'ment car.

[jeffyc]

GS-1811 is the federal job series for a Criminal Investigator.

Cool, thanks :D

[Group9]

I've had "G rides" ranging from a Ford Taurus to a Cadillac DeVille to a 1986 Firebird with the bird on the hood and all. There may be a reason why they aren't the standard fare of guv'ment car.

I'll bet if he saw a Mercedes, he wouldn't think it was a G-car either, but I've had two of those assigned as G-cars, as well as several pick-up trucks. :D

[basher52]

Detectives do not respond to calls in progress. When a detective is called out to a scene, the crime/danger is long over with. There is absolutely no need for a detective to drive fast to a scene.

The only reason I can think of a detective's car (NOT a personal, but department issued) to have emergency lights is if they need to block a road while investigating the scene.

If I may ask? What planet or universe is it, where Detectives don't respond (if only for backup) to a call if they are in the area. Not all Detectives respond only to the scene of past crimes, there ARE Detectives who actually WORK the streets in various units. AND...they even have cars with lights and sirens inside their cars, just like the patrol guys and gals have on the outside of theirs.

Detectives are just as much POLICE OFFICERS as Patrol Officers. In many agencys you have to start in Patrol before becoming a Detective. Is your agency like that? If the agency you work for treats Detectives like 3rd class citizens or fails to give them the basics to get the job done, they should be held accountable.

Just my 2 cents...

[basher52]

To the original poster...

I have had a take home non discript (and fully equipt'd) vehicle since 1995. Prior to that 90-95 and POST 9/11 detectives in my unit that did not have takehomes (Cat 1 or 2) had their POV's authorized for emergency response. Some were lucky to have the job equipt their cars, most scrounged and put in basic lights & siren packages. We were one of the only units with this setup because of the jobs we responded to. There just weren't enough job cars. We did each get assigned a dept ez-pass and pool plate. boy, have those days changed...

[retdetsgt]

If I may ask? What planet or universe is it, where Detectives don't respond (if only for backup) to a call if they are in the area. Not all Detectives respond only to the scene of past crimes, there ARE Detectives who actually WORK the streets in various units. AND...they even have cars with lights and sirens inside their cars, just like the patrol guys and gals have on the outside of theirs.

Detectives are just as much POLICE OFFICERS as Patrol Officers. In many agencys you have to start in Patrol before becoming a Detective. Is your agency like that? If the agency you work for treats Detectives like 3rd class citizens or fails to give them the basics to get the job done, they should be held accountable.

Just my 2 cents...

I don't know your particular situation, but in 18 years of being a detective, I can count on one hand the number of times I was closer to a situation requiring immediate backup than one or more uniform cars.

In my dept., we don't patrol. When I was on the street, I was going to interview someone or do something related to a case(s) I was working. I know when I was a uniform officer, I much preferred my backup to also be wearing a uniform than plain clothes. I don't care who you are, the presence of a uniform makes more of an impact than the guy wearing civilian clothes.

Not to mention the time I opened up a vice officer's head who was dumb enough to enter the scene of one hell of a bar fight when I was in uniform. In a situation like that, the uniforms hardly had time to identify one dirt bag looking guy from another.

And we are hardly treated as third class anything. When I'm was at the scene of a homicide, I was in charge, even over the precinct captain or the chief. Our detectives and uniform have an excellent relationship, mostly because we stay within our own job descriptions.

That being said, yes if an officer is in trouble and needs immediate assistance anyone will repond. But as I said, in my city other uniforms are almost always in a better position to do so.

[Group9]

I actually tried to turn my hidden blue lights on a couple of days ago to show someone that I actually had them and they didn't even work. :D

Since I can't remember the last time I actually used them, I have no idea how long they have been like that. :D

About a month ago, one of our guys accidentally hit the hidden siren activation on his vehicle as he was getting out in the parking lot. It had been so long since he had used it that it took him a good long five minutes to even find the switch. :eek:

[retdetsgt]

I actually tried to turn my hidden blue lights on a couple of days ago to show someone that I actually had them and they didn't even work. :D

I had a car for a while with red and blue lights behind the grill. The only time I turned them on was to see if they worked when I was still in the police garage.

[basher52]

Here in NY on any given tour, you can have twice as many Det's & plainclothes working the streets, compared to the number of uniformed patrol units fielded in a Pct. That is just the way it is. In any of the 5 boros, a Pct may field 3-8 sectors (Marked units) or more. Also working that command, you could have plainclothes and Det's from Vice, Narco, Spl Vic, anti crime, warrant squad, the Pct ****'s and auto crime division.

[retdetsgt]

Here in NY on any given tour, you can have twice as many Det's & plainclothes working the streets, compared to the number of uniformed patrol units fielded in a Pct. That is just the way it is. In any of the 5 boros, a Pct may field 3-8 sectors (Marked units) or more. Also working that command, you could have plainclothes and Det's from Vice, Narco, Spl Vic, anti crime, warrant squad, the Pct ****'s and auto crime division.

With all due respect, I don't think you can compare NYPD to just about any other police dept in this country. Even the next biggest, LAPD doesn't field that many plain clothes people out on the street.