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Badges

Metalhead47

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
Messages
2,800
Location
South Whidbey, Washington, USA
I spent 45 minutes on the side of the road a few weeks ago because a lakewood officer called in my car, pulled me over and then had to wait until WSP got there... They show up, realize nothing was wrong, and set me on my way...

I have a special license plate, issued by DOL specifically to identify the vehicle. Hell, the list of people with those plates is even sent to the sheriffs office, WSP, War dept, etc but apparently that wasn't enough for them to understand the gear...... Apparently there was even MORE confusion because of my license plate, instead of clearing things up... I didn't wanna bring out my county ID because I figured that'd just confuse them more.......

wa2.jpg



A nice 'round-robin' of

'You can't have that license plate'
It was issued to me
'But you can't have it'
DOL issues these plates SPECIFICALLY for the purpose of identification
'It's a custom plate, you requested it'
WSP is the one who TOLD me to get these plates so there would be no confusion
'But you can't have that on your plates'
The federal government assigned me that, which is why I have that plate
'DOL shouldn't have issued those plates'
WSP TOLD ME to get these plates BECAUSE it identifies me as NOT a police officer


:banghead:


Because only people who 'know' , know what the license plate is....I have since added another 'identifier' to my vehicle, which ANY joe blow should get.....


The chrome, the wheel covers, the fact that IT'S NOT EVEN A CROWN VIC, should give people some clues.......But people are stupid, and OMG IT'S GOT AN ANTENNA OMG 3 ANTENNAS WTFBBQOMG......

The touch screen computer, radios, and cameras sure don't help though....... :(

Interesting. But I can see how the plate could be confusing since all the *other* unmarked wsp plates end in wsp.

But c'mon, tell me with a straight face you've never followed someone around for a bit just to mess with them :p


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Metalhead47

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
Messages
2,800
Location
South Whidbey, Washington, USA
I spent 45 minutes on the side of the road a few weeks ago because a lakewood officer called in my car, pulled me over and then had to wait until WSP got there... They show up, realize nothing was wrong, and set me on my way...

I have a special license plate, issued by DOL specifically to identify the vehicle. Hell, the list of people with those plates is even sent to the sheriffs office, WSP, War dept, etc but apparently that wasn't enough for them to understand the gear...... Apparently there was even MORE confusion because of my license plate, instead of clearing things up... I didn't wanna bring out my county ID because I figured that'd just confuse them more.......

wa2.jpg



A nice 'round-robin' of

'You can't have that license plate'
It was issued to me
'But you can't have it'
DOL issues these plates SPECIFICALLY for the purpose of identification
'It's a custom plate, you requested it'
WSP is the one who TOLD me to get these plates so there would be no confusion
'But you can't have that on your plates'
The federal government assigned me that, which is why I have that plate
'DOL shouldn't have issued those plates'
WSP TOLD ME to get these plates BECAUSE it identifies me as NOT a police officer


:banghead:


Because only people who 'know' , know what the license plate is....I have since added another 'identifier' to my vehicle, which ANY joe blow should get.....


The chrome, the wheel covers, the fact that IT'S NOT EVEN A CROWN VIC, should give people some clues.......But people are stupid, and OMG IT'S GOT AN ANTENNA OMG 3 ANTENNAS WTFBBQOMG......

The touch screen computer, radios, and cameras sure don't help though....... :(

What's the "other identifier?"


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TechnoWeenie

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Messages
2,084
Location
, ,
What's the "other identifier?"Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
A 'make your own' license plate frame from wallyworld......with a few words on it.....


If someone STILL thinks it's a cop car, after what I wrote on there, they're retarded.

heh....




0007602746213_180X180.jpg
 

J1MB0B

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2011
Messages
239
Location
Tacoma, Washington
The guys at work pretty much have him convinced that wearing that thing would be a bad idea and I showed him OCDO. He swears up and down that he got it as a joke and never intended to wear it in public. If I can get at it, i'm going to paint it hot pink.
 

TechnoWeenie

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Messages
2,084
Location
, ,
But c'mon, tell me with a straight face you've never followed someone around for a bit just to mess with them :p


Never. Only time I ever follow someone is if they're CLEARLY intoxicated........and I have a camera recording everything.....
 

GuidoZ

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
192
Location
Skagit County, WA
Well c'mon now, WHAT'S IT SAY??


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Maybe a simple "I'm not a cop!"? Either way, it's obvious you either have the vehicle outfitted to fool, or outfitted for a purpose. I'm assuming a purpose, and I'm curious what purpose that would be. My car is very similar, but I most certainly have a purpose. :cool: Care to share?

--
Peace. ~G
 

TechnoWeenie

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Messages
2,084
Location
, ,
Maybe a simple "I'm not a cop!"? Either way, it's obvious you either have the vehicle outfitted to fool, or outfitted for a purpose. I'm assuming a purpose, and I'm curious what purpose that would be. My car is very similar, but I most certainly have a purpose. :cool: Care to share?

--
Peace. ~G

It's outfitted for a purpose, just not a purpose that people see as 'normal'........hahahah.....

I'm an amateur radio operator, and that's what the 'make a tag' thingy says..... the plate is my callsign.....

VHF + UHF, GPS, Vehicle tracking, computer is used for GPS/NAV/music and of course packet data, telemetry, airplane tracking, and just about any digital mode I want to use it for..

Here's an example of some flight tracking I did over Japan....

Untitled2.jpg
 
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Metalhead47

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
Messages
2,800
Location
South Whidbey, Washington, USA
It's outfitted for a purpose, just not a purpose that people see as 'normal'........hahahah.....

I'm an amateur radio operator, and that's what the 'make a tag' thingy says..... the plate is my callsign.....

VHF + UHF, GPS, Vehicle tracking, computer is used for GPS/NAV/music and of course packet data, telemetry, airplane tracking, and just about any digital mode I want to use it for..

Here's an example of some flight tracking I did over Japan....

Untitled2.jpg

Ah, radio call sign. Now it makes sense. Can you pick up tv from Saturn with that rig??


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GuidoZ

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
192
Location
Skagit County, WA
It's outfitted for a purpose, just not a purpose that people see as 'normal'........hahahah.....

I'm an amateur radio operator, and that's what the 'make a tag' thingy says..... the plate is my callsign.....

VHF + UHF, GPS, Vehicle tracking, computer is used for GPS/NAV/music and of course packet data, telemetry, airplane tracking, and just about any digital mode I want to use it for..

Here's an example of some flight tracking I did over Japan....

Untitled2.jpg
I though that was the case - I've seen a few of you guys around! I ended up speaking to a nice gentleman in Skagit County about his out-fitted car. He said many of the radio operators love the P71's because they are already wired up well for the gear required, plus they have the alternator to handle it. Makes perfect sense.

--
Peace. ~G
 

TechnoWeenie

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Messages
2,084
Location
, ,
I though that was the case - I've seen a few of you guys around! I ended up speaking to a nice gentleman in Skagit County about his out-fitted car. He said many of the radio operators love the P71's because they are already wired up well for the gear required, plus they have the alternator to handle it. Makes perfect sense.

--
Peace. ~G

I don't have a P71.

L O L

It's not even a crown vic.

:p

I do have a second battery that handles all the comms/lighting/computer/etc... I still don't have everything I want in it.... I'm gonna have to buy an Excursion to get the roof real estate I need.
 
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fire suppressor

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2008
Messages
870
Location
Kitsap County
We had this brought up about a year ago but I can not remember what we decided. Personally I like the sash idea, badges are for sheep, just my feelings
 

amzbrady

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2009
Messages
3,521
Location
Marysville, Washington, USA
I would love to find a white or silver Crown vic with a spotlight, just so people use their freaken turn signals and stop almost running into me when they change lanes while on their cell phone because their phone hand keeps them from looking over their shoulder when their driving near me.
 

GuidoZ

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
192
Location
Skagit County, WA
I don't have a P71.

L O L

It's not even a crown vic.

:p

I do have a second battery that handles all the comms/lighting/computer/etc... I still don't have everything I want in it.... I'm gonna have to buy an Excursion to get the roof real estate I need.
I saw you had a Mercury - this is just what the gentleman said to me about his. (He had a white P71. Looked pretty close to a WSP car.)

I would love to find a white or silver Crown vic with a spotlight, just so people use their freaken turn signals and stop almost running into me when they change lanes while on their cell phone because their phone hand keeps them from looking over their shoulder when their driving near me.
I know one that is for sale! It's in my neck of the woods though. Ex-Tacoma PD, 2001 with push bar and spotlight, P71 package. Around 125,000 miles. They are asking for $3,500, but I know they will go down to $2,900 or so. Lots of work done to get the car reliable (purchased for $2,500, then tossed another $1,800 in for repairs and maintenance). They have had it roughly a year and a half. PM if seriously interested - I've driven it and it drives very well! :cool:

--
Peace. ~G
 

PALO

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2012
Messages
729
Location
Kent
But you now give them reasonable suspicion to detain you for impersonating an officer...

'I observed the suspect displaying what appeared to be a law enforcement badge, armed with a handgun. I contacted John Doe in a consensual encounter and asked if he was a peace officer. John Doe replied that he was not. I inquired as to the purpose of the badge, and the suspect was nervous, and refused to answer any questions. Believing that the suspect was attempting to impersonate an officer, I secured the suspects weapon, and asked for identification. Suspect refused to supply identification. Based on the presence of a firearm, and a law enforcement badge, I believe a reasonable person would think that suspect John Doe was trying to impersonate a police officer. The incident occurred at the intersection of walk and do not walk, in your city, your county, your state in the presence of Officer J. Friendly.'

:banghead:

this is utter *********. have you read the RCW for impersonation?

here's a hint. you can dress in an entire police uniform and walk down the street, and that is NOT impersonating an officer in WA state.

it requires an act (the mens rea here) with intent to create the impression one is acting within that official capacity.

walk down the street in full police uniform? legal

do the same and point to somebody and say "sir, stop. i need to talk you ". that would be a violation

don't get me wrong. it is COMPLETELY stupid for a nonLEO to wear a badge next to their openly carried firearms

none of us who are LEOs carry our badge openly next to our firearms when we OC, and that would be violation of dept. policy.

we've already got a metric bazillion posts about people walking around OC'ing in WA with very rarely any sort of problem

but you do not want to muddy the water and create the impression that you are a cop, if you aren't.
 

TechnoWeenie

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2007
Messages
2,084
Location
, ,
this is utter *********. have you read the RCW for impersonation?




I have, I've had to quote it to numerous officers, because they think having radios and antennas on a white car is impersonating a cop....



here's a hint. you can dress in an entire police uniform and walk down the street, and that is NOT impersonating an officer in WA state.

it requires an act (the mens rea here) with intent to create the impression one is acting within that official capacity.

I would say dressing in a uniform would qualify, at least give PC for an arrest, even if not for a conviction...

but you do not want to muddy the water and create the impression that you are a cop, if you aren't.

This is why I went out of my way to get the license plate I did, instead I get yelled at for having my tag end in SP...Hey retard.... WSP tags are either '123 WSP', '1234 SP' , confidential, or undercover.

Then I get the 3rd degree......'How do you know that?! you must have done a lot of research'..........

I WORK ON THEM!


Then I get asked if I pulled anyone over...... W T F........ Why the hell would I do that? And second of all, how the HELL would I accomplish that, when I don't even have lights installed to the front?

Their ******** puckered up when they looked in my grille and saw two siren speakers...........ever hear of an airhorn? Or radio rebroadcast? Yeah, a guy would NEVER need to have the audio from his radio piped outside his car.... :banghead: Oh wait, you mean you didn't know you can completely disable ALL siren tones and have it for airhorn and radio only? Well that's why I work on the stuff and you don't.....:cuss:

They insisted on searching my car 'for a badge', made me turn all my lights on to make sure they weren't blue, wanted to grille me as to why I had a 7.5" AR upper (apparently he didn't know what an AR pistol was)........ Once WSP got there, it was like 'hey, we got called by Lakewood about an impersonator, we take these things seriously, if ONE thing was different, it probably wouldn't have been an issue, but you have a full size white 'police like' car , with antennas and lights on it, and you have a tag ending in SP.... Take any ONE of those things away, and it wouldn't be an issue, but with all those together it looks really bad, if it was on, say, an F150, we wouldn't be having this conversation.'

Which is funny, because I own an F150, and I'm pretty sure when he ran my DL it came back as the RO on 2 vehicles, the other being my F150...heh.. and is true, because I never got any **** in my F150...

ps1.jpg


2011-06-16150709.jpg


2011-06-16143946.jpg




The stater was actually really polite and professional, it was the city cops that were being difficult. One even said 'This isn't normal, this is why we have a hard time pulling people over'.... Yes, because amateur radio operators pull people over ALL the time, using a Grand Marquis....... I guess yelling out the window 'HEY, I HAVE ANTENNAS ON MY CAR, PULL OVER!' :lol:

It also doesn't help that, being in the radio field, I use commercial antenenas, proper NMO mounts, and commercial radios.. Not the hackjob **** that you see a lot of people using...

And then I overheard them talking about the way I pulled over.....Because I parked off the road at an angle, offset....JUST AS I WAS TRAINED TO DO IN EVOC... Like it's some super secret 'police only' parking style......
 
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Aknazer

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2011
Messages
1,760
Location
California
But you now give them reasonable suspicion to detain you for impersonating an officer...

'I observed the suspect displaying what appeared to be a law enforcement badge, armed with a handgun. I contacted John Doe in a consensual encounter and asked if he was a peace officer. John Doe replied that he was not. I inquired as to the purpose of the badge, and the suspect was nervous, and refused to answer any questions. Believing that the suspect was attempting to impersonate an officer, I secured the suspects weapon, and asked for identification. Suspect refused to supply identification. Based on the presence of a firearm, and a law enforcement badge, I believe a reasonable person would think that suspect John Doe was trying to impersonate a police officer. The incident occurred at the intersection of walk and do not walk, in your city, your county, your state in the presence of Officer J. Friendly.'

:banghead:

"Am I being detained?" "Am I free to go?" "The badge is simply my carry badge for my HWL for when cops hassle me for OCing."

Sure a cop "can" say the things that you're saying, but they already do things like that. As I said, I know that it could potentially cause some issues, but it also helps build standing and helps to strengthen the case when pushing the legislators to change the laws. One of the legislators has already said that they don't think it will be common and to let the courts "sort it out."

Please do not advocate criminal activity here. This is a place to discuss LAWFUL activity.

Please cite the law that says it is illegal. It is not my fault that other citizens are ignorant of the truth or that they can't tell it is one of those carry badges and not an actual police badge.
 
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