Is it safe to pass?

Not if that’s a police car in the next lane!

As a service to citizens in a hurry, here are some tips to help you identify unmarked cruisers.

As everybody knows, watch out for Ford Crown Victorias. Almost all unmarked cars are Crown Vics. Keep an eye out for Chevy Impalas and Dodge Intrepids, too, but these are rare in our beloved Commonwealth.

Know the difference between a Crown Vic and its near-twin, the Mercury Grand Marquis. A Mercury is never a cop car, so don’t be afraid to blow right by. From the back, you can spot a Mercury by its full-width red tail light lenses—the newest ones have a garish chrome platter instead. From the front (in your rear-view mirror), you can ID a harmless Merc by its vertical chrome grille.

Grandpa's Mercury: vertical grille, wide tail lights.




OK, so you know the bogey is a Crown Vic. From every angle, there are clues that will help you separate the “unmarked” car from grandpa’s rolling sofa…

From the back, examine the tail lights. Civilian Crown Vics have an orange lens at the bottom of the tail light; nearly all cop cars have a red lens. A red lens means there’s a 90% chance that Smokey has his eye on you.

That’s the best evidence that you’re looking at a Police Interceptor, as the patrol cars are known in Ford-speak. But there are other signs that it's a government-issued car, and probably a cop car… or possibly the official vehicle of the Waltham city sewer inspector.

Look between the tail lights and the license plate. If you see big, dark plastic panels, hit the brakes. Grandpa’s Crown Vic has panels the same color as the rest of the car, so gray plastic a sign that there’s a taser and tire spikes sitting in that trunk.

From the back: Cop tail lights are all red (no orange), and panels are black plastic




Moving to the side of the car, one of the easiest ways to ID a cop car (or at least a government Crown Vic) is by the lack of bling. Cop cars have two beauty marks:
-Ugly black-rimmed wheels … regular Crown Vics have mildly spiffy alloy wheels. But cheesy chromed plastic hubcaps can go either way, so don’t let your guard down!
-Drab plastic door handles and window frames… Grandpa’s Crown Vic has chrome everywhere!

Finally, the front of the car may offer a dead give-away: if the grille is black plastic, it’s almost certain to be a government Crown Vic, and probably a cruiser to boot. But if you’re looking back at the grille, it’s probably too late!

Front and side: cops have black plastic grilles, de-blinged door handles and windows, and ugly whees (cheesy chrome hubcaps shown):