Patrol car

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Latest generation emergency vehicle with yellow markings, Norderney
Police car VW Passat B6 in blue and silver color scheme in Dresden

A patrol car (or police car ) is an emergency vehicle the police . The designation patrol car was coined by the patrol duty of the police officers who “grazed” on foot . The official name in Austria is Streifenkraftwagen (StKW).

When the police were equipped with automobiles , it was transferred to vehicles and became common. In addition to the patrol car, there are other police vehicles for other tasks. When not all patrol cars had radio technology , a distinction was made between patrol cars (StW) and radio (streifen) wagons (FuStW), sometimes also as radio patrol cars (FuStKW). In addition, there are isolated other regional names.

history

Akron, Ohio Municipal Police vehicle, 1899.
15 police officers gather around a police vehicle in front of the Venice Police Station, ca.1920

The first police agency motor vehicle was a battery bus from the Akron, Ohio City Police Department , which entered service in 1899, but was stolen by the mob during the Akron riot in August 1900 and dumped into the Ohio-Erie Canal .

The first patrol cars were introduced in the large cities of the American West. The first two cities to systematically test patrol cars were Kansas City / Missouri and Berkeley / California . The background was sprawling suburbs, in which the foot patrol was no longer seen as an adequate tactic to prevent and prosecute crimes. Other cities were Detroit (1912) and Los Angeles (1913). In April 1918, the Detroit police maintained 150 patrol cars, each manned by one uniformed officer and one in plain clothes. (Fosdick, p. 309ff.) In 1919 the New York City Police Department owned 33 patrol cars, in 1925 already 100. The first vehicles were called squadron cars or squad cars (derived from squadrons ) because they could transport a larger number of police officers . In Berlin , the Prussian police started using so-called rapid patrol vehicles from the mid-1920s. In 1926, the 15 Berlin raid commandos had 31 rapid patrol vehicles. The Dresden police had at that time already 14 strip cars, as ever, the fleet of the Saxon Police as "exemplary" was (Oswald, p 14).

In 1928, police cars were first equipped with radio receivers in Detroit. Like a commercial radio station, the police broadcast their own music program. B. in the search for stolen vehicles or missing children, was interrupted for announcements to the patrol car. In 1942, the first radio patrol operation with 6 radio or radio patrol cars (RADIWA) was set up in Hamburg .

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-01002, Berlin, police, team van
Mercedes-Benz, Techno-Classica 2018, Essen (IMG 9589)

In the 1950s, the patrol car in New York finally replaced the patrol duty. In 1954, 40 radio patrol cars were in use in Hamburg, which (theoretically) should be able to reach a location within two and a half minutes within their service area.

The first six radio patrol cars with the nickname Anton to Fritz were used by the Viennese police in 1955 . Five years later, vehicles up to Viktor were already in use.

Germany

Mercedes-Benz E-Class of the Hanover police
German police car of the Volkswagen brand in green and white livery

Vehicle types and brands

In Germany, patrol cars are predominantly sedans and station wagons of the middle or upper middle class as well as minibuses (especially in service hundreds ). In special areas of responsibility, e.g. B. for police officers or property protection , but vehicles of the compact class or small cars are also used.

Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F006699-0005, Motorway Police North Rhine-Westphalia, visit from France

In rare cases, the autobahn police patrol cars were also sports cars or sports sedans , for example the Porsche 911 and 924 as well as the BMW M3 . The most common police vehicle in Germany is currently the BMW 3 Series .

Furnishing

Patrol cars are usually equipped with a special signal system (usually with built-in loudspeakers ), BOS radio (sometimes with radio reporting system ) and stop signaling devices. Equipment for a wide variety of scenarios is carried in the vehicle. For use in traffic accidents can include, for example, fire extinguisher , emergency hammer , first aid material, warning lights , traffic cones , Winkerkelle , camera , measuring tape and crayon. In addition, in addition to a submachine gun (often the Heckler and Koch MP5 ), various other command and control equipment is on board for use in ad hoc situations with a threat . B. extended body protection equipment and a deployment shield .

Some of the newer highway patrol cars also have a video camera in the windscreen, sometimes in the rear window, which switches on as soon as the stop signal is activated. The camera can also be switched on manually, for example when driving in pursuit . In special civil measuring vehicles, video cameras have long been the standard, especially with regard to the recording of traffic violations .

Coloring

People's Police patrol car

The body of German patrol cars was painted white from 1975, with the moving parts such as doors, bonnet and trunk lid painted mint green or later foiled. In some countries (e.g. Bavaria and, with the introduction of film wrapping, Hamburg too), a completely white body was fitted with a mint-green stripe on the side, called a belly band , over the entire length of the vehicle.

After the reunification in 1990, the vehicles of the People's Police , which had hitherto been light ivory and olive -green, also got the white-green appearance.

In order to achieve a higher resale value for disused patrol cars (which are currently often leasing vehicles ), from 2002 patrol cars were also painted in the basic color silver metallic instead of white, which was then unpopular on the market.

Today, almost all police forces procure new vehicles in blue-silver or blue-white. The blue color goes back to European efforts to make all police vehicles uniform across Europe. The current vehicle paintwork is traffic blue ( RAL 5017 ) in conjunction with silver or white.

The only exceptions are currently the patrol cars and emergency vehicles of the police of the state of Bavaria , which is gradually changing from green-silver to blue-silver with new vehicles.

Since the vehicles are often leased , the green or blue surfaces are no longer painted, but glued with a special film. A retroreflective contour marking in the form of individual rectangles, called "GAPS" , is usually attached above and below the film . The exact design varies from vehicle to vehicle. In Hamburg, there is traditionally only a color offset on the side.

Vehicle leasing is currently up for debate as there are doubts about the economy of the model. As a result, there are considerations to buy vehicles again yourself.

Timeline of the typical paintwork of police vehicles in the German federal states since 1945
National Police 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9
Berlin gray-blue
green white green / silver blue / silver
Schleswig-Holstein gray-blue fir green
green white green / silver blue / silver
Hamburg gray-blue fir green
green white blue / silver
Lower Saxony gray-blue fir green
green white green / silver blue / silver
North Rhine-Westphalia gray-blue fir green
green white green / silver blue / silver
Rhineland-Palatinate fir green
green white green / silver blue / silver
Saarland black fir green
green white green / silver blue / silver
Baden-Württemberg fir green
green white green / silver blue / silver
Bremen fir green
green white green / silver blue / silver
Hesse fir green
green white green / silver blue / silver
Bavaria fir green
green / white (belly band) green / silver blue / silver
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania olive green light ivory/ white / olive green
green white green / silver blue / silver
Brandenburg olive green light ivory/ white / olive green
green white green / silver blue / silver
Saxony-Anhalt olive green light ivory/ white / olive green
green white green / silver blue / silver
Saxony olive green light ivory/ white / olive green
green white green / silver blue / silver
Thuringia olive green light ivory/ white / olive green
green white green / silver blue / silver


Mark

Until the abolition of the official license plates in 2007, the license plates of the patrol cars usually began with the abbreviation of the seat of the respective police headquarters , sometimes that of the state capital, and showed no other letters besides the registration district. The number combination usually began with 3 or 7.

Since March 1, 2007, the federal states have handled the issue of license plates for police vehicles differently:

police Mark
Police in Baden-Württemberg BWL 4–XXXX BWL stands for Baden-Württemberg, state government, state parliament and police
Police Bavaria - normal license plates from the approval district of the respective presidium: A, WÜ, N, BT, R, LA, M
The police chief in Berlin B–XXXXX B stands for Berlin
Brandenburg police BBL 4–XXXX BBL stands for Brandenburg, state government, state parliament and police
Police Bremen HB–XXXX HB stands for the Hanseatic City of Bremen
Hamburg police HH–XXXX HH stands for Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Police Hesse WI–HP XXXX License plate of the state capital Wiesbaden and HP for the Hessian police
Police Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania MVL–3XXXX MVL stands for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, state government and state parliament
Police of Lower Saxony - normal license plates from the respective registration district
North Rhine-Westphalia police NRW–X–XXXX NRW 4, 5 or 6 stands for North Rhine-Westphalia, state government and state parliament
Rhineland-Palatinate police RPL 4–XXXX RPL stands for Rhineland-Palatinate, state government, state parliament and police
Saarland police SAL–4 XXXX SAL stands for Saarland, state government, state parliament and police
Police Saxony DD–Q XXXX License plate of the state capital Dresden and the identification letter Q
Police Saxony-Anhalt LSA–XXXXX LSA stands for Saxony-Anhalt, state government, state parliament and police
Schleswig-Holstein police SH–3XXXX SH stands for Schleswig-Holstein, state government, state parliament and police
Thuringian police EF–LP XXXX LP stands for state police ; until 2011:: EF–TP XXXXstill in use, no more allocation
Federal Police BP-XX-XXX BP stands for Federal Police ; formerly BG-XX-XXXfor the Federal Border Guard

The 4 (in North Rhine-Westphalia also 5 and 6) stands for the Ministry of the Interior. In the city-states of Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin, the previous license plates were retained, as these license plates also represent the retained license plates of the highest state authorities. In Bavaria and Lower Saxony , new patrol cars and emergency vehicles have been registered with normal license plates since March 1, 2007.

Air detection

The large numbers and letters on the vehicles are the so-called aerial identifiers , so that a police helicopter in action can localize the locations of individual strips and address the vehicles directly on the ground.

Regional names

A slang term for a Hamburg police patrol car is Peterwagen .

The name Peterwagen was popularly born in the Hamburg area in 1946 through a misunderstanding when the British military government obtained permission to operate what was then known as the “radio car” , when the British officer did not understand the word “patrol car” in the Hamburg pronunciation and around Spelling asked: "P like Peter ...", which brought the British to the utterance "Oh, I know, Peterwagen", which he wrote down and passed on through official channels.

According to another explanation, the name originated from the radio call name "Peter" selected for the police in Hamburg , which is supposed to be derived from the signal flag for "P" (a white field with a blue border) used in seafaring , which in Germany is known as Blauer Peter was known and indicated that all seafarers had to go on board because the ship is about to leave.

In East Berlin the radio patrol cars were called Toniwagen . In the administrative district of Oldenburg, the radio patrol cars were called Ottowagen after the German-language spelling table for Oldenburg. The term can be traced in the online archive of the Nordwest-Zeitung until around the mid-1970s.

Federal Police

Examples of federal police patrol cars :

  • BMW emergency vehicles

  • Land Rover

  • Mercedes-Benz Vito (W 638)

  • Mercedes-Benz Vito (W 639)

Patrol cars that do not belong to the police

The federal and state police forces are not the only organizations that operate patrol cars. Furthermore, there are other authorities and institutions, such as the Federal Customs Administration , the Military Police of the Bundeswehr (the military police), the Federal Office for Goods Transport (BAG), the regulatory agencies , etc.

Some examples

  • Volkswagen Passat (customs)

  • Mercedes-Benz Vito patrol car (customs)

  • VW T5 bus (customs)

  • Volkswagen Passat (inch) blue

  • Mercedes-Benz Vito patrol car (military police)

  • All-terrain Mercedes-Benz Vito (military police)

  • All-terrain Nissan Patrol (military police)

  • Official vehicle of the BAG for carrying out toll controls

  • Company car of the Mannheim regulatory office

  • Land Rover Freelander of the Fulda Public Order Office

Austria

VW Touran of the Austrian Federal Police

In Austria, Škoda Octavia , VW Golf Variant , VW Touran , VW Sharan and VW T5 police cars are very common. The license plates of the Federal Gendarmerie (“BG”) were changed to “BP” after being merged with the Federal Police .

With the merger of the Federal Police and the Federal Gendarmerie in July 2005, a new vehicle design was introduced: The basic color of the vehicles is silver, while blue and red foils are attached to the long sides, the bonnet and the tailgate, with the red stripe being reflective . It says “Police” and the emergency number 133 in white letters. Next to the police lettering, there is a stylized federal eagle on the doors.

Older patrol vehicles, which were kept in the previous colors white and red, were still used for economic reasons.

Poland

Alfa Romeo 159 as a patrol car of the Polish police (2012)

A large number of different manufacturers are used in Poland, preferably vehicles from KIA, Fiat, Škoda , and Ford, but also from Opel, Volkswagen and others. With limousines, station wagons and crew vans, the choice of vehicle types is similar to that of neighboring European countries.

The new European color scheme has been gradually introduced in Poland since 2007. While patrol cars are being procured in a new blue and silver color scheme, some of the larger vehicles remain blue and white, most recently also in the German color design with GAPS and belly band .

Sweden

Volvo V70 of the Swedish Police in Malmo

Swedish police authorities prefer to use combination models from national manufacturers such as Volvo or Saab . In recent years, more and more foreign vehicles have been purchased, for example from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen . In isolated cases, vehicles from American manufacturers such as Chevrolet were also used, for example for personnel carriers.

While Swedish police vehicles used to be painted black and white, white and later white and blue, a conspicuous checkerboard pattern, the so-called Battenberg markings , has been used since 2005 . The idea originated in Great Britain and gets its name from the Battenberg cake . The Swedish police alternate between neon yellow and blue. The aim is to be as conspicuous as possible and to be able to be identified immediately, even in poor visibility, as well as calming down vehicle traffic. A study by the Swedish traffic authority Vägverket in 2008 found significant effects of traffic calming in a vehicle with Battenburg markings for road maintenance .

Switzerland

Police car of the Ticino canton police

Typical police cars in Switzerland include BMW station wagons and limousines. Furthermore, vehicles from Volvo and VW are also often used. In German-speaking Switzerland, minibuses are mostly VW T4 or T5. Vehicles from the manufacturers Peugeot and Renault are also increasingly being used in the French-speaking cantons .

The Swiss police vehicles are white or silver with bright red surfaces. The design differs slightly depending on the police force. An exception is the canton of Geneva , in which the normal police vehicles are white-blue or silver-blue (however, they are now being adapted to the rest of the Swiss color scheme), recently also based on the German design, or white-green for the Geneva airport police and black and neon yellow at the border guard. In addition to Geneva, there are also other small exceptions for municipal police .

United States

In the USA, large sedans from national manufacturers such as Ford , Chevrolet or Dodge are preferred , and SUVs in rural or mountainous areas . The small number of station wagons compared to other European countries is particularly noteworthy . US car manufacturers usually offer vehicles that are derived from series models and specially tailored to the tasks of the police ex works, so-called police packages. In addition to more powerful engines, there are also usually more conspicuous special signal systems, often also dividing grids between the front seats and the rear , reinforced chassis and batteries as well as externally mounted, swiveling headlights to illuminate dark alleys or vehicles during an inspection.

The coloring of patrol cars in the USA differs from region to region, so no uniform marking can be identified. Usually the words Police or Sheriff can be found on the vehicles. However, one often finds the color combinations black / white (e.g. in Los Angeles ), light blue / white (e.g. in New York City ) or beige / brown.

Other countries

Police cars in film and television

Historic BMW 501 police car

literature

Web links

Commons : Police Vehicles  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Patrol car  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Police car  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Guidelines for the automotive industry (Fzw-R) in the current version of the GZ decree : BMI -RS1200 / 0219 / IV / 1 / d / 2005, undated , here: 1.2 List of Abbreviations, p. 3. ( Online (PDF; 35 kB) on the website of the police union -FSG, accessed on August 1, 2018).
  2. ↑ Seven and a half million kilometers of safety . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna November 23, 1960, p. 5 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  3. ↑ a b Peterwagen . Police historical collection-Paul
  4. ↑ Improved visibility of road maintenance vehicles when using Battenburg markings (Swedish) (PDF; 1.9 MB) Retrieved on May 31, 2012.