police cruisers used by the
Los Angeles County Sheriff's DepartmentIn the United States and Canada, the livery design for each fleet is usually determined by each individual agency; only
Minnesota and
Ohio have legislation with specific outlines for what police vehicle liveries should look like. Usually, laws exist that establish standards for police vehicle markings and prohibit civilian vehicles from using certain markings or paint schemes that may resemble emergency vehicles, as is the case in California. Livery designs vary by jurisdiction. The side doors, hood, or trunk of a marked police car usually bear the seal or badge of the agency, city, or county, often in reflective finish. Markings such as
emergency phone numbers, department mottoes, or website URLs are also common. Some agencies have identification numbers printed on the roofs of patrol cars for tracking of aircraft, or to distinguish specialized units, such as
K-9 units or supervisors.
Emergency vehicle equipment, such as
emergency lights,
pushbars,
spotlights, seat partitions, window bars, and
hubcaps, vary with each department or service, and may be inconsistent depending on the cruiser's model, purpose, and time of commissioning. North American police cars are historically associated with being painted black and white—specifically, with the doors and roof painted white and the rest of the body painted black. Older police vehicles typically came from the factory painted in a single color, most often white or black. The contrasting black-and-white paint scheme was used to make police vehicles easily stand out from civilian vehicles without requiring bright paint colors, custom designs, graphics, or larger markings. The association between North American police and black-and-white color schemes is so strong that the
United States Department of Homeland Security recommends, but does not require, that local law enforcement agencies adopt a black-and-white vehicle color scheme for ease of visual identification nationwide. with the
St. Thomas Police Service, with
Battenburg markings on the sides Unlike other countries,
Battenburg markings are very rare on emergency vehicles in the United States and Canada. However, this does not mean they are completely nonexistent in North America; a few regional police services in
Ontario, namely those in
St. Thomas,
Barrie and
Cobourg, have adopted yellow and blue Battenburg marking designs on some newer cruisers, although this practice is uncommon in the two countries. used by the
Toronto Police Service until the 1980s While black and white designs are used in many jurisdictions, many modern police cars use solid colors, primarily neutral tones such as white, black, and grey, often out of budgetary concerns; for example, the NYPD switched from baby blue to white in the late 1990s to save money on painting costs. Other colors, such as shades of blue, green, brown, tan, and red, are used by a handful of other agencies. In Canada, yellow was a common color used by municipal and regional police in Ontario until the 1980s; like the NYPD, most police services switched to white paint to save money. Most modern fleet markings are created from reflective vinyl with an adhesive backing that is applied in a peel-and-stick manner. Colors chosen to represent the agency's identity are typically chosen by the individual department, although some states have specific guidelines for color schemes and markings. Vinyl used to produce fleets markings comes in large rolls that are fed through a plotter (cutter) or large-format printer/cutter. The designs are created in specialized computer software and sent to the machines via a cable link for production. Once the design is cut into the vinyl, the excess vinyl on the sheet is removed in a process called "weeding". Finally, a paper pre-mask is applied to the top of the vinyl design to allow easy application of multiple letters and shapes at one time.
Unmarked cars and ghost cars ghost car used by the
Toronto Police Service. A light is being shined on the front fender of the vehicle, making the white reflective livery visible; otherwise, the vehicle would appear fully black, as seen at the rear fender.
Unmarked police vehicles are common in most agencies in the United States and Canada. Most unmarked police cars are often the same models as marked fleet vehicles, and may be virtually identical to them aside from the lack of roof-mounted emergency lights; however, this depends on the agency, and some may use common civilian vehicle models to blend in with traffic. Many agencies also use "
ghost cars" or "stealth cars", which are similar to unmarked cars, but have reflective graphics that are difficult to see unless illuminated by lights or viewed at certain angles. Ghost cars are often used for traffic enforcement, though they may also be used in jurisdictions where traditional unmarked cars are prohibited or have their enforcement capabilities limited, such as being unable to conduct
traffic stops. There are also concerns that the existence of unmarked cars enables
police impersonators due to the ease in copying an unmarked car as opposed to a marked car. == See also ==