Cop Car Models

Today, on my commute I was driving past someone who had just been pulled over while heading in the opposite direction of both the other motorist and the officer.  Luckily for the detained driver, he was not being arrested.  In fact, unlike the last time I posted on a similar encounter, this post will focus on the police officer, and more specifically, his car.

Have you ever consciously realized that when you drive past a car with a specific set of headlights (regardless of whether it has a red and blue rack atop it), you get a little more cautious than usual?  I understand that cops use unmarked cars because people generally act more as they normally would on the road if they don't see a cop car near them.  However, the fact that departments only use a handful of car models (and more often than not, Ford Crown Vic) for their panda cars negates this to some degree.  I know that any time I see a Crown Vic or a Dodge Charger, I automatically assume it's a black and white (not a black and white in this sense though).

I can't say that I understand why departments don't buy a large assortment of different cars to accomplish their goals.  They could even manage to do that without breaking tradition and purchasing foreign cars (although I'd have no aversion to such a thing).  Am I the only one that feels this way, or do you feel that you can generally spot an unmarked cop car without breaking a sweat?


-FSG