Security Duty Cars

[Mr. Security]

I've seen entire duty belts with all the pouches sown shut and the night stick welded into the ring. Empty guns. They say you have to carry a gun, but nobody said it had to be loaded!

Florida now says it has to be loaded.

Now, that is a problem for Barney.

[knotquiteawake]

we have grill and rear deck light packages on our two crown vics. Red and blue in the front grill with a takedown light behind the rearview mirror, then amber and blue in the rear deck. One unit also has strobes on the corners. We have apartments a couple blocks away that the university owns, unless someone's life was in danger we would never be allowed to use the lights off campus (although saving someone's life is worth more than the ticket or fine we may later get).
On campus we use them frequently to get students vehicles out of the way when responding to different high priority calls (medical, fire, crime in progress).

although, sometimes we get a little too gung-ho with with them. I know i did yesterday, made me feel like an ass in retrospect, turned out to be a non-emergency non-priority call (the description dispatch gave sounded worse than it was).

[N. A. Corbier]

I've seen entire duty belts with all the pouches sown shut and the night stick welded into the ring. Empty guns. They say you have to carry a gun, but nobody said it had to be loaded!

Florida now says it has to be loaded.

[HotelSecurity]

I've grown comfortable with driving the Crown Victoria. The only problem I have is with the idea my company currently has of installing a yellow lightbar and then not hooking it up to a power supply or switchbox. "It's just for show." How embarrassing. I'm driving around with a useless piece of junk mounted on my car.

Sort of reminds me of stories I heard just when I started in this business. In those days bank guards in Canada could be armed. I heard however that some companies used to give their guards a holster with a piece of wood to put inside to make it look like they had a gun. In my own experience the company that owns my hotels owned a 2 level shopping centre. They started with 3 security but cut back to 1. After office hours he would patrol with a walkie-talkie but there was no one he could call. They told him to keep it "for show".

[LavianoTS386]

At the college we have a crown vic, donated by the sheriff's dept. It has an amber light bar and a spot light. I love the way it drives.

[N. A. Corbier]

If the people working in your agency were responsible and used the lights only when appropriate, there wouldn't be an issue.

In some states, it is never appropriate to activate a light bar unless you are an authorized emergency vehicle, a public utility worker, or a tow truck operator.

[deeplist]

If the people working in your agency were responsible and used the lights only when appropriate, there wouldn't be an issue.

[N. A. Corbier]

That's worthless. Its usually done because they fear the light bar will get them a ticket because the guard activates it.

[1stWatch]

I've grown comfortable with driving the Crown Victoria. The only problem I have is with the idea my company currently has of installing a yellow lightbar and then not hooking it up to a power supply or switchbox. "It's just for show." How embarrassing. I'm driving around with a useless piece of junk mounted on my car.

[T202]

According to that document, security guards are permitted to have amber lights, just so long as they are not used on highways (while in motion).

You are right if the vehicle is owned by the security company or an alarm company.

(7) A private motor vehicle of a security guard agency or alarm company licensed pursuant to the private security guard act of 1968, 1968 PA 330, MCL 338.1051 to 338.1085, may display flashing, rotating, or oscillating amber lights. The flashing, rotating, or oscillating amber lights shall not be activated on a public highway when a vehicle is in motion.

[N. A. Corbier]

So Wisconsin even mandates no blue on private property then? Around here, you can use any color you want, provided that the vehicle NEVER leaves private property... If it hits public roads at all, it's amber/white to the front, amber/red to the rear... So unless your site has it's own gas pump, that's pretty much what you're stuck with.. And yes, it's not just a moving violation... They can actually cite you just for having the other colors equipped on the vehicle, regardless of whether or not you turned them on..

Its not a traffic code, its impersonating a law enforcement officer by virtue of having LE only lights. We can have red to the front if they're not activated while on public roads.

[deeplist]

In Michigan any flashing, oscillating, rotating light of any color is prohibited. There are several exceptions, but not for a personal vehicle unless you are delivering mail or newspapers.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/af...ing_8570_7.pdf

According to that document, security guards are permitted to have amber lights, just so long as they are not used on highways (while in motion).

[Charger]

So Wisconsin even mandates no blue on private property then? Around here, you can use any color you want, provided that the vehicle NEVER leaves private property... If it hits public roads at all, it's amber/white to the front, amber/red to the rear... So unless your site has it's own gas pump, that's pretty much what you're stuck with.. And yes, it's not just a moving violation... They can actually cite you just for having the other colors equipped on the vehicle, regardless of whether or not you turned them on..

[N. A. Corbier]

Here in Wisconsin, you turn those lights on anywhere but private property and its moving violation. But, we can have any color of light other than blue, so long as they're not activated while on public roads.

Yeah, totally green/white/amber and green/red/amber in the back or something.

[Mr. Security]

In Michigan any flashing, oscillating, rotating light of any color is prohibited. There are several exceptions, but not for a personal vehicle unless you are delivering mail or newspapers.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/af...ing_8570_7.pdf

Exactly. I almost found out the hard way when using my POV to check out a building on a site during foul weather. I was using a flashing amber light to make my presence known to trailer-pull operators. I took a route as a shortcut to the building, but it required that I travel a half-mile on the public road next to the facility. As I got ready to pull out on the road, a police cruiser that just happened to be passing by hit the brakes. I knew he wanted to see if I was going to travel on the road w/ my light flashing. Wisely, I reversed course and remained on facility property. I'm sure that if I had pulled out on the road that he would have stopped me.

Lesson learned.