WSP undercover brothers getting trickier

If it was a deterrence, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Unmarked cars for traffic enforcement is ALL about the revenue, safety is a by-product.

Maybe this question is obvious to others but, I am always surprised by how tax dollars are spent. What costs more - a fully cloaked out unmarked car ready to hide behind trees, shadows, donut shops etc or a regular marked cruiser?

I would hate to think we are spending extra money on unmarked cars that could be put to much better use than hiding at the bottom of steep downhills?

T

Cost was one of the reasons they reduced the size of the mandatory lettering on each side of the car to 1 1/2" from 2" IIRC. That, and the also-required 6" round sticker in the back window can't cost that much, especially if the state buys them in bulk. That stuff's cheap.


1911fan

Thats a big gripe of mine ,when they sit at the bottom of hills.Thats plain ignorant.

Nothing ignorant about it if your goal is revenue.

Well if you get down to it, "you cant cure stupid" covers that.

I don't think any sensible person believes or expects that everybody needs to follow traffic laws to the letter, or that they alone define what is safe.
Any reasonable person knows that there needs to be some standards of behavior on the road, and at some level they need to be enforced, it may be arbitrary most of the time but its necessary

Enforcement costs money, someone needs to pay for it, I rather it be paid by those who don't have the skill or judgment to avoid getting caught. They are the ones creating the need in the first place.
Anybody who gets enough tickets for this to be of any real concern sucks at riding/driving and deserves what they get.

IMO, targeted stealth enforcement that goes after the really bad drivers is more productive than a speed trap at the bottom of a hill.

YOU really just don't get it do you.

Sure I do,
I just find the all indignation over red herrings amusing.

Till it happens to you.

Break a law to enforce a law.

There is a big difference between that and how the State of Washington uses WSP as a profitable revenue source.

Who here voted?

George Carlin may have put it best;

"I don't vote. On Election Day, I stay home. I firmly believe that if you vote, you have no right to complain. Now, some people like to twist that around. They say, 'If you don't vote, you have no right to complain,' but where's the logic in that? If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent politicians, and they get into office and screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You voted them in. You caused the problem. You have no right to complain. I, on the other hand, who did not vote -- who did not even leave the house on Election Day -- am in no way responsible for what these politicians have done and have every right to complain about the mess that you created."


And when will Carlin get the recognition he deserves as one of our nations great minds?





Charlie

But its voluntary.

I like having "fun" as much as anybody else, but I've had only 1 moving violation in the past 20 years. A little bit of common sense, good judgment, and self control goes a long way.
.

I completely agree.




Charlie

Oroville has Officer Annie, in an old patrol car "manned" or "mannequined" by an old Resusci Annie (CPR training device). Uniform, blonde wig and OPD ballcap. She gets shuttled around town and works pretty well at slowing down cars and trucks speeding down US Hwy. 97. We've got lots of trucks coming from Canada and they don't always slow down to 25 mph thru town. Anyway, she's effective and so realistic people have been caught stopping to ask for information. Always slows me down when I see her and I think every once in awhile the chief sticks a patrol officer in the car that can breath on his own.

This one? Me too!

Not sure about how things work now , but 30 years ago all WSP motor officers were paid by the feds and had to write any infraction they saw . On the topic of this thread I will side against unmarked cars . Many years ago about a month after fixing my bike after getting rear ended I was passing a car on a divided roadway . As I was even with the car I saw car a coming up behind me rapidly . I downshifted and spun it up quickly and when I pulled into right lane the car behind was right up my ass . That is when I saw the grill lights and heard the crappy siren . The fine officer wrote me for 87 , he didn't even want to confirm that I had been run over 2 months before . Didn't care . A few years later I had 2 King County motor officers that were hidden in some brush up an old road write me for 80+ in a 45 because a white corvette passed me as I rode by their hideout . They didn't even see him , so when they pulled out all they saw was me . I have also witnessed an unmarked baiting people into breaking the law while they are out "catching" aggressive drivers . Got home and tried to call the local state patrol office but the number was disconnected . I just wish I was as good of driver as Windmill , I would have no worries ! Revenue NOT safety

I drive a lot. 500 mile days are not uncommon, average 1500 a week. I recently drove from Oregon to Kansas city, Mo and saw 4 cops. FOUR, the whole trip. Last week I drove from Pendleton, Or to Yakima and counted 9 in just a couple hours. I don't speed in the work truck, but WA has more cops per capita than anywhere I have ever been, and I've been to 27 countries and most states. It's only a matter of time before I get a ticket for something there. :huh

BS... I was in the WSP in the early eighties...

I was NOT , that was the info I had been told as a Firefighter and Search and Rescue Diver . Thank you for straightening me out .