Police to stop take home vehicles to suburbs

[Conan71]

Another thorn in the side for take-home vehicles to the suburbs:

TPD cruiser going 100+ MPH without lights and sirens.
Video given to FOX23 from a viewer showing what he says is a Tulsa Police Department cruiser traveling at unsafe speeds on Highway 75 without sirens or lights has the department taking action.

That's when Mark grabbed his iPhone and started recording. Mark has to go up to 90 miles an hour to keep up with the cruiser.When he finally caught up with the car at the Tulsa Police Department Training Academy, he recorded the car's vehicle number and tag number.

Captain Brooks says there are instances when lights and sirens may not be used.
"Sometimes the mere lights and sirens tend to cause more disruption than the officer just moving through the traffic." Another is when trying not to tip off a suspect.

The department admits, it appears neither of those reasons where in place when Mark recorded his video. FOX23 has learned many officers who live outside the city will use the Academy's lot to keep their personal cars while they are working a shift. They will then bring their cruiser to the Academy to swap it with their personal car since departmental policy does not allow patrol vehicles to be taken home by officers who live outside the city limits.

http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Driver-TPD-cruiser-going-100-MPH-without-lights/WGvS0iRZp0yo1BmyDKdPvg.cspx

A citizen chasing a cop car at 90 to 100 MPH while using a phone camera represents just as much if not even more of a risk to other drivers.

[tulsa_fan]

A citizen chasing a cop car at 90 to 100 MPH while using a phone camera represents just as much if not even more of a risk to other drivers.

Agreed!  I'm not excusing the officer at all, but they are trained on how to drive at those speeds, and I'd feel much better wtih an officer or OHP blowing my doors off but a citizen is another story.

[DolfanBob]

Just another way for them to break the Law.....Ahem, skirt the system.

[DolfanBob]

Agreed!  I'm not excusing the officer at all, but they are trained on how to drive at those speeds, and I'd feel much better wtih an officer or OHP blowing my doors off but a citizen is another story.

Just curious. Where do they train these guy's to drive 100+ miles a hour ?
Texas Motor Speedway ? Kansas Motor Speedway ? Most likely on a simulated machine. Nope, doesn't make me feel any better.

[Red Arrow]

Agreed!  I'm not excusing the officer at all, but they are trained on how to drive at those speeds, and I'd feel much better wtih an officer or OHP blowing my doors off but a citizen is another story.

The officers may know how to drive those speeds but so do licensed race car drivers. (My brother had to get a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) license to race back in the 70s.)  What the officer's training cannot prevent is someone pulling out in front of them because American drivers do not expect a fast driver without lights and siren.  Drivers in Germany have much better lane discipline because they actually have to learn how to drive.  American drivers typically have no lane discipline.

[Gaspar]

The officers may know how to drive those speeds but so do licensed race car drivers. (My brother had to get a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) license to race back in the 70s.)  What the officer's training cannot prevent is someone pulling out in front of them because American drivers do not expect a fast driver without lights and siren.  Drivers in Germany have much better lane discipline because they actually have to learn how to drive.  American drivers typically have no lane discipline.

That's actually kinda funny, because my wife will drive through a green light and pay no attention to what is happening in the perpendicular lanes.  She'll just zip through as if the intersection does not exist.  I always ask her to at least look and excursive some caution and speed reduction, and her comment is "Well, if someone runs a red light and hits me, it will be their fault!"  To which my reply is always "You're right!. . .I can sue them for your funeral expenses."

[Red Arrow]

That's actually kinda funny, because my wife will drive through a green light and pay no attention to what is happening in the perpendicular lanes.  She'll just zip through as if the intersection does not exist.  I always ask her to at least look and excursive some caution and speed reduction, and her comment is "Well, if someone runs a red light and hits me, it will be their fault!"  To which my reply is always "You're right!. . .I can sue them for your funeral expenses."

Whenever I start across an intersection that has just recently turned green for my direction, I am very cautious.  If it has been green for a while I still look but generally maintain speed to avoid being hit from behind.  When a light turns yellow in front of me, I double check my mirror.

[nathanm]

To which my reply is always "You're right!. . .I can sue them for your funeral expenses."

I suggest having her buy a car with side curtain air bags and hope that it's not a semi or a dump truck running the red light. TBH, I don't slow down for green lights that haven't just changed. I'm perfectly capable of assessing that all lanes of cross traffic are occupied while approaching the intersection. If someone manages to rear end a car and knock it into me with enough force to kill me, they win at life.

[patric]

A citizen chasing a cop car at 90 to 100 MPH while using a phone camera represents just as much if not even more of a risk to other drivers.

You could just as easily say that a cop car chasing a citizen represents every bit as much risk, but that's another topic.
The story did mention the man "caught up with" the cruiser when he was able to make out the P90-- number at the gate.

The advantage to using flashing lights is that it communicates to other drivers that the emergency vehicle is likely moving faster than other traffic; without that cue, it would look just like other traffic, and that's caused countless accidents when motorists mis-judged the speed of approaching emergency vehicles.  

[tulsa_fan]

Just curious. Where do they train these guy's to drive 100+ miles a hour ?
Texas Motor Speedway ? Kansas Motor Speedway ? Most likely on a simulated machine. Nope, doesn't make me feel any better.

The last cadets did their training at Hallet speedway, before they started using that, there was a partk in East Tulsa with curves and turns and room to drive . . .  Again, I'm not defending an officer going 100 mph if it wasn't in response to an emergency call.  I just know OHP does it all the time and I've never given it a second thought, and definitely wouldn't be trying to catch up with them to get a tag number.

[Conan71]

The last cadets did their training at Hallet speedway, before they started using that, there was a partk in East Tulsa with curves and turns and room to drive . . .  Again, I'm not defending an officer going 100 mph if it wasn't in response to an emergency call.  I just know OHP does it all the time and I've never given it a second thought, and definitely wouldn't be trying to catch up with them to get a tag number.

Safety training center on East Admiral.  You can see it from 244, it was a neighborhood or trailer park that got wiped out in the 1984 flood.  The Tulsa Wheelmen use it for their criterium training racing series on Tuesday nights from Mid March to the end of August.

There's also a skid pad at OSU's safety training center at Reno & Portland in OKC.

[patric]

More fuel for the "taking police cars home makes neighborhoods safer" claptrap:


Bixby Police report someone shot out the back window of a Bixby police car Monday morning.

The car was unoccupied at the time of the vandalism but was parked in front of an officer's home.

His family heard the single shotgun blast at about 9:30 a.m. Police say it was a .12 gauge shotgun.