8 Top Tips To Spot An Undercover Police Car
We have a hidden ‘enemy’ on the roads in the UK and it seems to be getting worse and worse. I am constantly surprised by the variety of undercover police cars there are on the streets. For anyone who doesn’t know, an undercover police car is literally a police car without any features which openly show it is a police car rather than just a fellow road user.
In this blog post I will try and give you some great tips to spot one (I am not saying speeding is ok, of course the best way to avoid undercover police is by following all the rules and regulations of the road).
1) Police car list
The first and most useful tip is a quick list of the most popular ‘undercover’ police cars out there on the UK streets
-Skoda Octavia VRS’s or standard
-Any Volvo
-BMW 3,5, X5s
-Hyundai Ix35
-Audi A3,A4, A6, Q5
-Jaguar XF
(These are the main culprits but of course some different areas have different cars…I know that London has E class Mercs, Mini Coopers)
2) Clean cars
Police tend to have to keep their cars spotless, again this is not fool proof because police can do a lot of miles in a day to get their car mucky again but it’s good to keep an eye out for strangely clean but normal looking cars.
3) Normal Number plates
If the car you’re suspicious of has a personalised number plate, ignore it because police won’t have the budget or the need to change their number plates.
4) 2 people in the car
Undercover police officers rarely travel alone, therefore if the car in question has 2 people in it, it should automatically go up in suspicion.
5) Strange grey panels by the headrests or in the front grill
Now these could easily be mistaken for anti crash technology panels in the grill but they are usually glossy. If you see matt grey panels these are probably police lights! Spot these = Slow down
6) Driving stereotypes
This is the way I trust most. Is the driver driving like the type of person who buys that car? Ok that might have made no sense. For example is the Audi driver tailgating? Or is the BMW going fast and weaving between traffic? If the BMW or Audi is hovering on the slow lane following road rules and regulations then they are far more likely to be an undercover chariot, again like the other rules this is of course not absolute but it should raise your eyebrows. (These are of course stereotypes)
7) A busy dash or bright interior lights
These are a great police car warning because police need all sorts of interior computers which will naturally emit a lot of light in the night. And in the day it will be easier to see black equipment hanging below the rear view mirror or peaking over the dash.
In London it seems police can have whatever car they want as their undercover but then again it’s impossible to speed or do anything in London anyways because of all the cameras!
This content was originally posted by a Car Throttle user on our Community platform and was not commissioned or created by the CT editorial team.
Comments
You forgot to mention they try all sorts of things to make you overtake them , speed or anything that has to do with ‘’illegal’’ stuff. I live in Germany and one way to spot undercover police car is when they drive like a woman that just got her driving license. Plus in Germany they mostly drive VW or any car that comes from Germany.
In Switzerland on the highways ,they usually drive slow in the fast lane and if you don’t have patience and stay behind them and not overtake them from the right, then prepare yourself to lose your license.
Or they provocate you with tailgaiting and trying to undertake and then rev at you in the end…they did several times with my father and once he had to pay a fine of 300 bucks and lost his license for month…so if your swiss…better not drive a “flashy” or at first sight seemingly fast car…
Here’s the quick and easy version for the US:
Does it have more than one antenna? Unmarked cop cars often have multiple radio antennas so they can keep in touch with dispatch wherever they are.
Here in the U.S. there are usually Ford Crown Victoria street cars going around driven usually by older people or are ragged out and dusty/rusting. But a clean Crown Vic driving aggressive is an easy heads up.
Australian version?
I saw a VW caddy (small van) bombing down the motorway with blue flashing lights. It was really unsuspecting! Must of been travelling over a ton, btw I live in Yorkshire so people of yorkshire look out for VW caddys…..
Once I saw an undercover Dodge Durango, but it had a GV license plate.
German one maybe?
Kiwi version:
If it’s a (VE or VF) Holden Commodore Omega or Evoke, it’s a cop
Also each area have number plate code my areas undercover police have the first 2 letters on the reg as WN or BX and that applies for regular police cars too
In NI at least the police won’t be driving a non Irish reg car, i.e. A123 ABC / AB55 ABC
The biggest give away though has to be those damn blue lights they turn on when you’ve smoked them at the lights!