Unlike my day when we required multiple antenna's (even though people still failed to see us) over time plain vehicles have become more discreet, so where the second inerior mirror was often a clue, now the observer may use the rear view camera instead. Now, only one antenna unlike the 2, 3 or even 4 that used to be needed for the mobile repeaters, and the make and model will now often vary from the main marked fleet, for example we used Jags, Rovers, Senators, Omega's and Granada's, later Volvo's and BMW's but our plain cars were Capri 2.8's, Sierra Cosworth and later Audi's or anything that could be mistaken for being a civilian vehicle. The identity will vary from force to force, but remember the crew are after those who always behave when there is a uniform vehicle around and take the piss when they think they are in the clear. Ride or drive sensibly and you have nothing to fear because for the crew of the plain car (as I can testify to over 30 years which includes riding an unmarked bike)) it is like taking candy from a baby. They are after the 9 carat tosspots who take the piss..
You used to be able to spot them by the back end being low on the suspension due to the kit in the back, back they now seem to fit uprated springs
Plain cars did/do not have uprated suspension or anything else as they do not carry the kit that the uniform cars carry. They will carry a coup;le of signs and cones in some cases but trhat is it. In the same vein, many people believe that the engines of all Police vehicles are uprated or tuned. Wrong again, they are standard spec engines with nothing more than an uprated alternator and battery to cater for the extra electrical load. Uniform cars are actually slower in most cases than the civilian equivalent because all the aerodynamics go to shit with the roof stuff and weightr in the back. Hence why the plain cars don't carry much equipment so that its performance is maintained somewhere near its maximum intended design speed.
Moderately tinted windows, blue and white strobes built in to license plate bracket for side visibility, frequently a rear red strobe in the rear window. Also giveaways for MPS are the GPS antenna visible on the windscreen. What else? Response Q cars tend to have front and rear internal ANPR camera's. If you are driving alongside you may spot the emergency warning system controls in the cup holder area (sometimes disguised as cups), a blue button somewhere on the dash for the IDR, a sticker saying 'Petrol' or 'Diesel' on the instrument cluster. In MPS they are (in response) usually 3 up. Beyond that there isn't a great deal these days, maybe a slight sag in suspension, 3 sets of the kit you use day to day, tablets, esd, lots of paperwork, some uniform just in case. The biggest giveaway is the probationer in the back peeing themselves with excitement.
Dead easy to spot on the motorway, they're in the minority of cars that are actually using the lanes properly, driving considerately and are keeping a sensible gap. Get someone like that behind you when you're doing 80+ you best start to think about slowing down.
Watch out for suspect cars that do what we in the trade used to call "An up and over" This particularly applies where a vehicle has approached at speed from the rear and suddenly slam on the brakes to kill its speed. The plain vehicle will take the exit, over the top and come back onto the Motorway and take up station behind the target vehicle to get the 1 mile check in (minimal distance for a following check against a calibrated speedo). Since they did away with the Class 1 and 2 advanced qualifications and stopped patrolling the Motorways as part of a patrol route and are no longer trained on Motorways), standards have dropped, so the points you make are not quite as relevant anymore...
They still stand out because the standard of driving amongst the general public has eroded at an equal if not greater rate. We've got mobile phones and a lack of traffic policing to thank for that.
Lack of Traffic cops is down to chief officers not accepting that policing our roads is as important if not more important than having loads of pisshead superstars in plain clothes calling themselves Detectives..... To that end funding has been slashed. I served with 250 fellow traffic cops in my force and I was one of 40 full time motorcyclists. Now, there are about 80 traffic cops and 6 part time motorcyclists and non of the training that used to be done including no Motorway crews. So standards have dropped on both sides
It's not so much unmarked police cars/bikes these days. It's Joe Public's dash cams (forward and rear facing) you have to be wary of.
Why? What's the worst they can do - put you on youtube? Conversely, if I handed some footage to the cops of someone dangerous driving, I don't think they'd do anything about it either.
Because the Police encourage people to submit dashcam footage to them so they can prosecute for driving offences shown. It’s rather like the Stasi in former East Germany encouraging the public to grass on each other… https://unitedkingdom1cpp-portal.digital-policing.co.uk/lancashire/appeal/public-dashcam-submission
Its not so much as doing something about it, it is about answering the legal question does it meet the criteria for a prosecution? Perception also comes into question. For example what I may deem as careless or dangerous driving because of my past life and training may not be deemed as careless or dangerous by others because they are non the wiser and to that end it works the other way that I cringe at some of the antics of drivers and riders but those committing the offences are oblivious to having done anything wrong or (as in most cases) don't care. Video footage can be helpful in crash cases where burden of proof is a lower test (On the balance of probability of 50% or better rather than beyond reasonable doubt), but it can and does open up a can of worms when it comes to prosecuting for a section 2 or 3....
If you were broken into the police would not accept your CCTV as evidence to catch the scum, yet dash cam footage seems nice and easy to fine the motorist so will accept that
Clear video footage of yobs breaking a neighbours greenhouse sent to the police and local High School has led to naff all results even though it's clear as day who the fuckwits were. But as you say an easy way to get money from a motorist.
I had my NC30 stolen some years ago. I was absolutely gutted. Cops were like 'so what, call your insurance', even though the neighbours clearly saw the people who took it, and recorded the number plate of their van they loaded it into. This is why there's so much crime now, criminals are basically untouchable, until they run a speed camera that is.
I love watching the various police programmes that are on TV these days and I genuinely take my hat off to the guys and girls that do that job, they deserve twice the salary they get, maybe more. However, I always chuckle at the end of the programme when they summarise the outcome of each situation, which 9 times out of 10 is 'there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute', despite it being as clear cut as you'll ever see. I reckon I could be caught on a crystal clear dashcam pulling a wheelie at 100mph, without a helmet, whilst chatting on a mobile phone, then jump off my bike, walk up to the dashcam, give all my details, pull a moonie and the outcome would still be 'there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute'.
