#77 and unmarked police cars
 

(got this as a forward. just wanted to post it for people to know. my BF alwyas tells me to be careful about this)

Lauren was 19 yr. old and in college. This story
takes place over the Christmas/New Year's holiday break.

It was the Saturday before New
Year's and it was about 1PM in the afternoon. Lauren
was driving to
visit a friend. An *UNMARKED* police car pulled up
behind her and put his
lights on.

Lauren's parents have 4 children (high school and
college age) and have
always told them never to pull over for an unmarked
car on the side of
the road, but rather wait until they get to a gas
station, etc..

So Lauren had listened to her parents advice, and
promptly called "#77"
on her cell phone to tell the police dispatcher that
she would not pull
over right away.

She proceeded to tell the dispatcher that there was
an unmarked police
car with a flashing red light on his rooftop behind
her.

The dispatcher checked to see if there where police
cars where she was
and there wasn't! He told her to keep driving,
remain calm and that
he had back up already on the way.

Ten minutes later, four cop cars surrounded her and
the unmarked car behind
her. One policeman went to her side and the others surrounded the
car behind. They pulled the guy from the car and tackled
him to the
ground ... the man was a convicted rapist and wanted
for other crimes.

I never knew about the "#77" Cell Phone Feature -
but especially for a
woman alone in a car, you should not pull over for
an unmarked car.

Apparently police have to respect your right to keep
going to a "safe" place.
You obviously need to make some signals that you
acknowledge them (i.e.,
put on your hazard lights) or call "#77" like Lauren
did.

Too bad the cell phone companies don't give you this
little bit of wonderful information.

So now it's your turn to let your friends know
about "#77".
Send this to every woman you know, it may save their
life.
Men, Please send this to your women friends.

Warning...some elements may not be true
 

I know Louisiana has a *LSP (*577) code for cell phones where you can get them directly. If my backwards state has it, I'm betting other states do too.

I know Florida has it - I think it's *FHP. Had to use it once when I was in high school and my mustang P.O.S. broke down on a road trip in the middle of nowhere! I think other states have it in certain areas, for example SC has their "DOT Assistance Zones" (or something) outside of Ft. Mill/Rock Hill, then also when you approach Columbia. Not sure if NC has it though.

I just found this, which lists emergency numbers by state, but of course I don't know how accurate it is.

you are better off just dialing 911 apparently.

And i have received that email too.

PLEASE READ
 

http://www.coloradoan.com/news/coloradoanpublishing/Miller/

This happened to a girl in Fort Collins who worked up the street from where I lived last year. I had seen signs all over town saying that Lacy Miller was missing, and soon it was in the news that she had been kidnapped by someone who posed as a police officer.

I'm not going to go into details, but when I read the article in the paper after the man was convicted, I cried. I don't know how someone could do something so horrid as what he did to her.

It's already illegal to impersonate a police officer, but it's not illegal to purchase police gear. Tougher laws are being looked at, that will have more severe penalties.

So, be careful, and know that while the story in the email may or may not be fake, Lacy's story is unfortunately real.

We have #77 here and I'm so glad we do. I was riding in a car with a friend of mine at night and an unmarked car put his lights on because she was speeding. She started to pull over but I told her to call #77 and tell the dispatcher that we were going to pull off on an exit that had a well-lit gas station. She confirmed the officer behind us, we pulled off at an exit, she got her speeding ticket, and we went home. I would never ever ever pull over for an unmarked car by myself, especially at night.

This story just reminded me of some incidents that happened here. I guess a few years ago some pretty sick students had gotten ahold of some police gear and a light bar. Well, everytime they pulled a female driver over they raped her ( I believe they got 4). Eventually they did catch them but dag on, I couldn't believe it took them a long time to catch them.

I don't even understand this. You cannot be pulled over by an "unmarked" vehicle. In order for a patroller to pull you over, the car has to be VISIBLY marked from at least 50 feet away!! I found this out in a safety speech given by Georgia state patrollers.

Tell that to the City of Richardson, Texas traffic gendarmes! Depends on their definition of 'visibly marked'; it could mean having red/blue lights, siren and flashing headlights and not necessarily 'HIGHWAY PATROL' or 'POLICE' insignia.

Many traffic cop units will get around the 'unmarked' rule by just adding a couple of stickers to an unmarked vehicle; those familiar with the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor can see the plain wheels and overall police hardware (ram bumpers, etc.) No light bar in plain sight.

SAPD has 11 new Unmarked Vehicles that are all different colors (maroon, forrest green, navy and have matching stickers that say SAPD but can only be seen at the right angle). It's not really undercover if they are in an LTD and have the little thing on the back that actually says 'police interceptor' . IF they want to be undercover, I wanna see an officer in a 89 Nissan Stanza.

I can't believe so many states make you remember a number other than 911. I don't know what the reasoning is for it, but I am glad we are able to dial 911 from our cell phones here in Texas.

Defintiely! I don't know if it's my background in working with different law enforcement agencies, but I can ALWAYS spot an undercover. Always! The 'police interceptor' at the rear is a dead give away, as is the red and blue lights on the dash. :rolleyes: And not only that, they are all Crown Victoria style cars and none of their paint jobs look like those from a car you'd buy off a lot. I vote for all law enforcement agencies who have undercover cars as I've described above to receive a Stuid Award. Congrats!

Not all undercover police cars are Crown Victorias, but typically, the ones that are used in traffic incidents are.

Many departments use other mainstream "family-like" cars as undercover cars. Ford Taurus', Mercury Sables, and 80s Pontiac Celebrities are often used in southern California. But most of the time, you will never know these are police vehicles- they are usually used by investigators for non-urgent reasons. But don't think they can't pull you over and ticket you.

Just an FYI.

I've never seen any of those. In speaking with people from different law enforcement agencies, most, if not all, undercover vehicles down here are as I described.

Many unmarked cars here are colored Chevy Impalas (dark green, blue, etc). VA State Police have some pretty nice Camaros, but I think there are only like 4 in the entire state. Military Police around here have started driving marked white Impalas. There are still the old Crown Vics and whatnot, too.

some of the dallas areas now have new dark blue and black Impalas that have NO markings at all except small lights in the front grill. We also have a few camaros. For those of you who don't live in Texas, we have TABC-Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commision, which monitors alcohol sales/service in dry areas, who also have barely marked black Crown Victorias-I have been followed home by one before after purchesing beer from a convienence store-they asked to see my I.D,then left. Freaked me out.

Don'cha love how totally F'ed up DFW Metroplex liquor laws are? Ya practically need a MAPSCO (the local publisher of street atlases) to figger out where to buy booze in this town! I've been living off and on in the DFW area for over 10 years and I think I've finally gotten the hang of where the wet, 'moist' (beer and wine only retail sales, hard stuff in restaurants only) and dry areas are!

I've always been told that if you think you're being pulled over and there's anything suspicious about it (such as it being an unmarked car) you should call 911 and ask if you are being pulled over. If they say yes, you go to a well-lighted, well-populated area and stop. If they say no, you don't stop, and they should dispatch the real police.

A relative of mine was nearly a victim in a not-too-dissimilar situation. A guy had gotten hold of a police uniform and would offer young ladies a lift home, then he'd take off with them and rape them. My relative escaped only because she noticed he was wearing argyle socks, which are not part of the uniform, and jumped out of his moving car.

In SC, I've seen Camaro's, Durango's, and I've even seen a BMW (what was that about?) as undercover or HP vehicles. Some of them were marked, but when you are on the highway and they are behind you, you can't tell.

Random Replies....
 

Arkansas was famous for an "unmarked police rapist" a few years ago. Scary stuff...he apparently would seek out the country roads with nothing around for miles and miles.

I know we can dial 911 from our cell phones...I think we can also dial a different number to get Highway police (on the interstates).

Our police have different types of unmarked cars...Camaros, Impalas, etc. They also have started marking the car on only the right side so that they can sit on the side of the road, tag people for speeding, but you think it's just a regular car until they show you the right side of the vehicle.

The police also mark and use a lot of cars they confiscate during crimes and drug deals. I've seen a State Police Ferrari running around here...looks interesting.

PsychTau

Yeah, you basically have to carry a zillion forms of i.d. with you, and drive to the middle of no where to get booze!! and they all close at different times. Such a pain. Someones post earlier reminded me I have seen a Dallas P.D. viper once cruising down the highway. That was bizzare. Black with blue markings. Odd.