Guides

Guides to police and government vehicles

Three sections: what makes a police vehicle different and how agencies test, buy and retire them; where retired, surplus, seized and impounded vehicles are sold and under what rules; and how police measure speed and what the law says about detectors and jammers.

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Police vehicles explained

The frame for the whole subject: police packages, pursuit ratings, testing, cost, replacement, safety and the shift to SUVs.

Buying government vehicles: where they are sold and under what rules

The map of government vehicle sales: federal, state and city surplus, police and impound, and seized-vehicle auctions.

Traffic enforcement: radar, lidar, cameras and the law

An orientation to police radar, lidar, speed cameras and the laws on radar detectors and jammers.

Police vehicles explained

8 guides

What separates a police vehicle from the civilian model it is based on, how agencies test and buy them, what they cost to run, and why the fleet changed.

What is a Police Interceptor?

Why Police Interceptor is a Ford name, which vehicles have carried it, and what separates one from a civilian Ford.

Pursuit-rated vs special service vehicles

What pursuit-rated and special service actually mean, who decides, and how agencies use the difference in policy.

How police vehicles are tested

What the Michigan State Police and LASD vehicle tests measure, how they run, and how to read the results.

What a police car costs, and why upfitting drives it

How agencies' police car costs break down between base vehicle and upfit, from dated audits and council records.

Police fleet replacement cycles

How agencies decide when a patrol car is retired, from 75,000-mile policies to audited 175,000-mile optimums.

Police vehicle safety

Officer crash and struck-by deaths, seat belt use, and what NHTSA found about the Crown Victoria and Explorer.

Unmarked police cars explained

Unmarked, ghost and undercover police cars defined, the vehicles agencies use, and three state statutes on traffic enforcement.

Electric police vehicles

Battery-electric and hybrid police vehicles: which models exist, how they test, and what remains unproven.

Buying government vehicles

8 guides

Where retired police cars, surplus fleet vehicles and seized or impounded cars are actually sold, under what rules, and what to check before you bid.

How GSA auctions work for vehicles

GSA Auctions and GSA Fleet Vehicle Sales explained: who can bid, the deadlines, the SF 97 and the fees that do apply.

Police auctions: what is actually sold

Retired fleet, impounds, forfeitures and found property: how police auctions work and who actually runs them.

How police impound auctions work

Notice periods, lien sales, title paperwork and short pickup windows: how unclaimed impounded vehicles reach auction.

Seized and forfeited vehicle auctions

Where federal seized and forfeited vehicles are sold, how few reach auction, and the old $100 seized car list scam.

Repossessed cars: how lenders sell them and who can buy

How repossessed cars are sold under UCC Article 9, who can buy them, and why repo bargains are mostly a myth.

How state and local government surplus auctions work

How state and local surplus vehicle sales work, who may buy, what they sell for and the deadlines that catch buyers.

Buying a used police car: what to check before the sale

What to check on a retired police car: idle hours, upfit damage, police-only parts, recalls, title and paint rules.

Police car titles and decommissioning

What decommissioning removes, which ownership document each channel issues, and the paint, light and siren rules.

Traffic enforcement

8 guides

How police measure speed with radar, lidar and cameras, how accurate each is, and what the law says about detectors and jammers in every state.

Radar detector laws by state

Where radar detectors are banned, the statute in every state, and the windshield rules that limit mounting.

Radar detectors in commercial vehicles

The federal CMV radar detector ban: which vehicles it covers, what counts as a detector and the penalties.

Laser jammer laws by state

The 11 state laser jammer bans with citations, the federal radar jammer rule and the states with no statute found.

How police radar works

The Doppler principle, stationary and moving modes, beam width, accuracy specs and the errors NHTSA trains officers to spot.

Police radar bands: X, K and Ka

NHTSA's X, K and Ka band definitions, which bands current radar uses, and why K-band alerts are often car sensors.

Radar vs lidar for police speed measurement

How radar and lidar measure speed, where each works, how accurate NHTSA requires them to be, and which one gives warning.

Cosine error in police radar and lidar

Why an angled radar or lidar reading favors the driver in stationary use, the math, and the moving-radar exception.

Speed cameras: types, evidence and state law

Fixed, mobile and point-to-point speed cameras, what studies show, how programs are run, and which states allow them.