You know why they bought the Lexus because they can and there's nothing you can do to stop them. Makes you feel real good about paying taxes doesn't it!
Radiohead is providing the tune for the Humberside police force advertising campaign:
Humberside police, drive this car, it cost 80 large
It drives like a Bimmer, it’s like a detuned racecar
Humberside police, drive this car, it’s 400 horsepower is making me thrill
And let the townspeople know
This is what you get, this is what you get
This is what you get, when you mess with us
Give English police Bugatti's,it doesn't matter,they're all so dumb they couldn't even catch a cold if they tried. Anyway i thought they closed Humberside?
I really would like to see the report in which they justified spending $88k on a Lexus police car. Who are they trying to catch? Retired rich grandpas who are hooning?
p.s: I also saw on a tv clip from England-land that Humberside police also own a couple of Suzuki Hayabusas with on-board cameras and stuff to catch ....who else? Speeding bikers.
In the US, these vehicles are usually drug seizures (either directly, or purchased with drug funds) and used primarily for PR and community relations. I mean, sure, the car is fast...but it's one car. I suppose if you had a really dumb criminal who just happened to be near this car, then decided to flee at high speed, this might be a deterrent. But under normal chase circumstances, it's probably better to have two coordinated crappy cars than a single fast one. What are you going to do, ram him and hope for the best?
I'd probably make some kind of comment about socialism and wasting tax money, but I'm American.
@Ash78: Ash! Stop being Anti-American! I know it's a Monday and everything but I thought we liked to waste money in this country on stuff we don't need. The Brit's are like our lil brothers who have had access to some real money for the first time and are going a bit crazy.
@pauljones: I lived in FL in the 80s when the cops were driving Mustang GTs and the occasional ZR1 or Countach. I'm just surprised the same tactic applies to densely populated areas with lots of video surveillance. Put another way, what good is all the surveillance if it can't eliminate the most knuckle-dragging of all police maneuvers, the high-speed chase?
@Ash78: The surveillance was never intended to defeat the high-speed chase; it was simply meant to save the police time and effort dealing with more mundane activities like people who run the light. After all, for the most part, people that run a red light aren't criminals that do so to endanger the lives of others, it's simply a mistake.
The high-speed chase, or low-speed chase, is usually an instance in which the perpetrator is intentionally endangering the lives of others and needs to be stopped as soon as possible. Video cameras simply can't do that.
There will never be a way to prevent or deal with high speed chases remotely. The only hope is that we can make them as short as possible through a combination of coordinated teamwork on the part of local police departments, and perhaps, by having cars that are capable of handling high speed pursuits.
They didn't necessarily need an IS-F per se, but hey, it sure as hell will work.
@pauljones: Will it? What does the IS-F driving officer do when he catches up to the speeding perp? Ram him? I don't see any bumper bars on that bad boy, and I suspect that an IS-F is going to be a lot less able to tolerate the kind of abuse you see the LAPD dishing out with their beat to shit Crown Vics.
I think you are right that coordinated teamwork is necessary to handle situations like these, but spending 80 grand on a patrol car just means that there's likely to be fewer teammates around to coordinate with.
@FormerlyPreferredCustomer: I don't think that it really was meant to be the car that actually knocks the other guy into a spin. The job of the IS-F is to act in a way not at all unlike a Forward Air Control aircraft; their job is not to strike, but rather to keep tabs on where the target it, relay that information to other cars or equipment that are intended to knock the guy around, and call in the big guns when the moment is right.
$80K is expensive, but a helicopter (which would undoubtedly do to the job a little better) costs a whole hell of a lot more, and not every police department has that kind of budget. If you need something to fill that role, and you can't afford the ideal that is the helicopter, why not go for something like this?
That's exactly what the CHP Camaros were intended for. Certainly, they could give tickets and enforce the law as well as the Crown Vic guys, but if push came to shove, and someone decided to run, their job was simply to give chase and keep track of the perpetrator, while the calld in the Crown Vics at the right moment to knock the guy out.
@Pessimipposaurus: I must warn you, sir, that outside, in my lightning quick Audi RS4 Avant, I have police dog Josephine, who is not only armed and trained to sniff out certain substances, but is also a junkie.
07/28/09
I'd much rather they got a C63 or an M3, though. Or an XF, ye unpartriotic Britons.
07/27/09
07/27/09
07/27/09
07/27/09
Humberside police, drive this car, it cost 80 large
It drives like a Bimmer, it’s like a detuned racecar
Humberside police, drive this car, it’s 400 horsepower is making me thrill
And let the townspeople know
This is what you get, this is what you get
This is what you get, when you mess with us
07/27/09
07/27/09
07/27/09
07/27/09
07/27/09
p.s: I also saw on a tv clip from England-land that Humberside police also own a couple of Suzuki Hayabusas with on-board cameras and stuff to catch ....who else? Speeding bikers.
07/27/09
One (1) Lexus IS-F: £53,376
Reason: Current police fleet consists of diesel Vauxhall Astras with 100 hp. Pursuits are difficult.
07/27/09
07/28/09
07/27/09
07/27/09
I'd probably make some kind of comment about socialism and wasting tax money, but I'm American.
07/27/09
I guess I can go and hide somewhere now.
07/27/09
07/27/09
07/27/09
The high-speed chase, or low-speed chase, is usually an instance in which the perpetrator is intentionally endangering the lives of others and needs to be stopped as soon as possible. Video cameras simply can't do that.
There will never be a way to prevent or deal with high speed chases remotely. The only hope is that we can make them as short as possible through a combination of coordinated teamwork on the part of local police departments, and perhaps, by having cars that are capable of handling high speed pursuits.
They didn't necessarily need an IS-F per se, but hey, it sure as hell will work.
07/27/09
I think you are right that coordinated teamwork is necessary to handle situations like these, but spending 80 grand on a patrol car just means that there's likely to be fewer teammates around to coordinate with.
07/27/09
$80K is expensive, but a helicopter (which would undoubtedly do to the job a little better) costs a whole hell of a lot more, and not every police department has that kind of budget. If you need something to fill that role, and you can't afford the ideal that is the helicopter, why not go for something like this?
That's exactly what the CHP Camaros were intended for. Certainly, they could give tickets and enforce the law as well as the Crown Vic guys, but if push came to shove, and someone decided to run, their job was simply to give chase and keep track of the perpetrator, while the calld in the Crown Vics at the right moment to knock the guy out.
07/27/09
07/28/09
/I fail
07/27/09
07/27/09
07/27/09
07/27/09
Still, despite what the little hand says, I doubt anyone's doing much rock and rolling in a Lexus, even an IS F.
07/27/09
07/28/09
Such as being unable to discreetly look at a pretty girl in the car behind you.
07/09/09
07/09/09
Err...
Toyotas. Whatever.