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Transit Police returns to classic black and white for cruisers

New Transit Police cruiser

Transit Police posted a couple photos today of what its new cruisers will look like - it's a move away from the mostly white Boston look and towards the black and white preferred by many suburban police departments.

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You have a ' " ' character in the URL that is breaking the link to the twitter post

Wonder why they did not get the new SUVs that BPD is rocking and just altered the color scheme? The mission and work requirements can't be all that different

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Thanks and sorry about that.

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This looks too much like those private secruty cars then a real police car.

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That was my first impression.

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Fugly!

What's with police departments going to what appears to be the factory standard paint schemes?

Each department used to be unique and now everyone is going to rent-a-cop cookie cutter clip art paint jobs and lettering.

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Maybe it's cheaper to order the cars in black with white doors and then have the decals installed instead of getting the cars completely repainted in a custom design. (Of course, knowing the T they ordered the cars in B&W and then repainted them anyway.)

Since the Transit cops are effectively state cops who work the rails they should use the same color scheme. It would make it easier to know if the officer is local or state.

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to save money. Off the shelf is cheaper than custom. Just ask the MBTA.

That is also the reason they are preferred by suburban towns, as Adam alluded to. Smaller police vehicle fleets that cannot justify the expense of a custom paint scheme (Boston is obviously different in this regard, as is the MSP).

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The rest of us get 40 year-old cars!**

**(This is not a slight towards the MBTA cops; I don't begrudge them the new cars.)

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Can someone explain to me the logic of painting the back of police cars black?

You know vehicles that are frequently stopped either next to, or in an active lane?

It seem like 99% of the world tries to make the back as high visible as possible, so everyone can see the car and not hit it.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Police.car.1.arp.750...

But in the US it is the opposite. WTF?

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A "Safety" color car would also be easier for someone to spot if they were looking for police assistance in a hurry.

IMAGE(http://i.memecaptain.com/gend_images/ZnoobA.jpg)

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The flashing lights more than make up for the black paint. Visible from a mile away.

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Transit police cars have a reflective arrow pattern on their trunks right now. But it looks like the new B&W scheme does away with it.

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If you look closely at the 2nd picture you can see what looks like the start of a black-and-yellow arrow pattern strip.

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That's what the Flashing RED, BLUE and/or WHITE lights are for!

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          IMAGE(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Police.car.1.arp.750pix.jpg)

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One problem with flashing lights is that people who are tired and/or drunk target-fixate on the lights and drive right into the back of the cruiser. A lot of police officers get hurt that way, even killed.

No one's come up with a good answer for it. It might be that high-visibility markings to the rear rather than flashing lights to the rear might be a better answer; I haven't really looked into it.

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What you describe here is also why the caution stripes point "outward" from the vehicles that have them, rather than "inward." Apparently (this is from what an EMT once told me), the outward-pointing caution stripes causes a distracted person suddenly coming upon an ambulance to swerve away whereas the inward-pointing ones do the opposite; the person aims for the ambulance. Some kind of reflexive follow-the-arrow panic-response or some such, I guess.

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Which are only activated under certain circumstances (e.g., a traffic stop). A highly visible paint job can't be turned off.

Most U.S. ambulances and fire trucks already use these reflective caution patterns on their rear ends. Why not police cars?

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The other night, when I was biking with my husband, we stopped so that he could put on his high viz vest. Sure, he had reflector tape on his coat and we had all our lights on, but the strange lateral light just seemed to swallow all those up compared to the high viz yellow vest (the contrast between light and light is less than the contrast between light and dark).

If the cruiser and lights are between you and the sun, you might have a hard time seeing the lights relative to a pattern of high visibility colors.

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The rear of the vehicle, from the company who did the graphic work on these cars. https://www.facebook.com/129810277053799/photos/a.599280430106779.107374...

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you could spot them a mile away. soo glad I'm a good boy now.

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The old Plymouth Gran Fury/Dodge Diplomat. They had a distinctive headlight pattern and very few civilians bought them. You could recognize them instantly in your rearview mirror. Dunno if they were ever popular police cruisers around the Boston area but in Delaware, where I misspent my youth, the Newark town police and DE State Police both used them extensively in the 1980s and early '90s.

Those cars went like stink, too, compared to the Chevys and Fords. The top engine was supposed to be a 318 but a long-standing rumor had it that a few runs of them destined for the Florida Highway Patrol "accidentally" left the factory with a 360 under the hood, and were subsequently used in drug-interdiction operations.

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They have police cars, detective vehicles, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, em-50 urban assault vehicles, whats next machine guns?

Does anyone running the MBTA realize that bus drivers and passengers would like to see transit cops on trains,buses checking for fare evaders not running radar on I-93

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Transit Police already has a SWAT team equipped with H&K UMP submachine guns. The reason for Transit PD SWAT team is because there are many parts of the subway system that are too hazardous for a city or regional SWAT team without proper training. They were also involved in the Watertown shootout with the Marathon bombers, and I believe a Transit PD officer made the arrest of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

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The transit police need a SWAT team because there are hazardous places that are too dangerous for Boston and State Police SWAT teams to venture into ? Please tell the riding public where these dangerous stations are and how many times this elite team of underground warriors equipped with machine guns have been used in the subway?

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Yes, the MBTA consists entire of stations and nothing else. No tunnels, no bridges, no train tracks with exposed third rail, no electrical substations. You're right, there are no hazardous areas of the MBTA.

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Don't forget the 2660 T vehicles they have to respond to accidents involving/fights on/caught on fire/etc and the commuter rail train issues. I'm all for them having cars as long as they get out of them

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It's almost like they're a real, accredited police department with real police equipment and a motorpool.

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Cars with that level of window tinting would not pass inspection in MA. But I guess deep window tinting is not a safety concern for the police.

If they want to appear to be friendly, approachable officers of the law then they missed the mark with this design.

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I think the image they want to project is: I might be watching you or I might be asleep. You'll never know because you can't see me.

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The all black military style uniforms and boots don't help either. The mid 2000s shift away from traditional police uniforms hasn't been good for community relations.

Cops still had patrol rifles and whatnot in the trunk since the crazy 1994 bank shootout in CA but weren't dressing up like Rainbow Six until the post 9/11 security money and army surplus hand-me-downs started flowing like lava to every Maybury in the country.

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Their officers wear the same style traditional uniform as Boston/Cambridge/everyone else. Their SWAT wear green. It looks like only their K9's wear the black uniforms you refer to. Being a dog handler is a physical and dirty job, that's probably the most practical uniform. Also, have you ever noticed the layer of filth coating everything in the T? I don't think any light colors would work at all.

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Many police departments nationwide are making that switch for ergonomic reasons. Although they've drawn criticism for looking too militaristic, they distribute weight of the gear better than a duty belt.

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So someone in the back (not yet convicted or even booked) isn't on display to the public?
Does the window tinting law apply to read windows? Having that tinted seems no worse than a panel van.

Agree about the unfriendliness and low visibility.

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The state window tinting regs only apply to aftermarket tint, not factory tint. Go figure.

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Transit police are a joke and a waste of already depleted MBTA funds.It's shame that that racist Transit cop that got outed on the news is surely back at it again with the racism on the force. And this cruiser is a joke....leave the cruisers to the real cops, guys.

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When ever I read a posting like this. I have a feeling that the Police must have been enforcing a law or rule against you.

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Now this is what an agency with a $7B maintenance backlog should be spending money on - certainly an agency that just raised fares to cover a separate $242M hole in the budget!

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