Houston Police Department Fleet * Update *

dawson75

Member
May 20, 2010
336
OHIO
Brother - in - law is a cop in Houston, Went on a ride-a-long when I was down there . Had a good time. At that time it was the baby blue cars with the Whelen edge strobe bars with the half asses install with like 4 feet of bar cable shoved under the bar ..lol


great pics


Dan
 

chono

Member
Jun 5, 2010
496
Midwest
They look amazing!


The only thing im wondering though is why does that crown vic have stealth graphics and then have a decal on the front windshield?
 

03crownvic

Member
May 8, 2010
1,033
Louisiana
We had a funeral for a deputy's LODD here in north Louisiana earlier this year, and out of the 100+ emergency vehicles in the procession to the cemetery, the Houston PD car with a Freedom lightbar was by far the brightest (especially from the rear and with the multiple colors) and it appeared to be crammed full of lighting in every available space. I wasn't in the procession but was videoing/observing from the roadside curb and made a point to check out all of the vehicles as they passed by. It was unreal how much brighter it was than the other bars. On the other hand, it was really sad when several of the smaller underfunded agency's cars rolled by with Streethawks, MX7000s, and the other dinosaur lighting that was barely noticeable. Do y'all do anything special with the specs on those Houston bars, such as using full populated modules, higher intensities, or something similar? just curious......
 

HILO

Member
May 20, 2010
2,781
Grand Prairie Texas
Anyone else remember the HPD clean roof Camaro's from the early 90's? Baby blue, with a full size edge mounted in the back hatch from wheel well to wheel well! The front lightson the bar were not hooked up.
 

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
that APC is B.A.! :twisted: also, prob. one of the most comprehensive lighting setups i've seen on one (i usually see an old rotator bar or just a pair of red/blue led grills lights)


not a fan of the outer silver ring on the tires on some of the CVPIs and chargers. i prefer the all black charger rims and the all black (cept the silver ford logo in the center) on the CVPIs, but that's just me
 

EVT

Member
May 24, 2010
622
Midwest
I like how HPD has lots of lights. Seems like most large agencies skimp when it comes to lights on the cars.
 

RL1

Member
May 20, 2010
1,649
Ga
EVT said:
I like how HPD has lots of lights. Seems like most large agencies skimp when it comes to lights on the cars.


My thoughts exactly. I saw them on COPS one time and loved the set up. IIRC, it's a Freedom with clear strobe end caps, wig-wags, front coner strobes, and a traffic backer to the rear. I also think they turn off the rear lights when they have a big chase.
 

Mike L.

Member
May 21, 2010
261
Everett, WA
Couple of questions, first in the pick showing the car hauler - is that last patrol cars wheels resting on the front bumper of the car in front of it? Also, in the 4th pic the slick top charger, what are those par style lights mounted on the pushbumper? Are they warning lights or are they used as a takedown/spotlight.


Nice set ups though.
 

RL1

Member
May 20, 2010
1,649
Ga
No, you can just barely see the bracket holding the wheels. And I think the lights are Whelen pioneer spot lights
 

Bonanno

Member
May 21, 2010
535
Neptune, NJ
Mike L. said:
Couple of questions, first in the pick showing the car hauler - is that last patrol cars wheels resting on the front bumper of the car in front of it? Also, in the 4th pic the slick top charger, what are those par style lights mounted on the pushbumper? Are they warning lights or are they used as a takedown/spotlight.

Nice set ups though.


They appear to be Whelen 400 series Lin 12s (6 over 6). those are in the center, they are flanked by the Siren speakers, not lights
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
I saw an episode of COPS from Houston and what really got me was that the lightbars have clear corner strobes (front and back) in addition to colored LEDs - i'd never seen a Whelen lightbar setup like that... (the closest thing i've seen is clear front corner strobes, and all other strobes red and blue, and no LEDs.)
 

UndercoverVLS

Member
Jun 1, 2010
337
NY
Sweet RMPs, nice and simple. Didnt go overboard. Me like :D (off topic: we need better smilies, maybe emoticons--thumbs up, dancing bananas etc)
 

EVT

Member
May 24, 2010
622
Midwest
nerdly_dood said:
I saw an episode of COPS from Houston and what really got me was that the lightbars have clear corner strobes (front and back) in addition to colored LEDs - i'd never seen a Whelen lightbar setup like that... (the closest thing i've seen is clear front corner strobes, and all other strobes red and blue, and no LEDs.)

Yeah I actually think that's a pretty BA set up!
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
I kinda like how the patrol cars have a Whelen Edge LED lightbar, with clear corner strobes. I typically think of white lights without any colored lights of the same type as an utter abomination, but for some reason I like this setup.
 

Citabria7GCBC

Member
May 21, 2010
142
Houston Texas
How about the Houston Police fork lift?


ai210.photobucket.com_albums_bb302_Citabria7gcbc_hpd.jpg


I saw it the other day while doing a warrant transfer. I enjoy driving around seeing all the cool toys from the big agencies just before I pick up the warrant transfer. This day I spotted this fork lift. I literally laughed out loud when I saw it.


I also saw this HPD car, which I guess is some kind of DWI promotional vehicle. ai210.photobucket.com_albums_bb302_Citabria7gcbc_4ebd5955.jpg
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
The back door says, more or less "Choose your ride" - as in, are you gonna take a cab or a cop car?


And I hate to say it, but I much prefer the current strobe/LED combo over the older all-color strobe setup - I think the all-colors-everywhere design kinda sucks - better option would be red/white to the front and blue/amber to the back, or red/white/blue to the front and red/amber/blue to the back.


It totally ruins the purpose of each light - red means stop, blue means police, white is an attention-getter, and amber means caution or slow down - so for that reason I'm picky about where certain colors of lights should go.
 

Citabria7GCBC

Member
May 21, 2010
142
Houston Texas
I enjoyed the strobe bars with R/A/W/B on both the front and the back. I enjoyed it so much that I purchased one. I added clear endcaps though. So it really stands out better. They were a neat bar during their hay day. I enjoy seeing them but the new LED ones are freaking AWESOME. I have seen several HPD cars recently with Libertys too. Looked like they went all or partial ambers on the back for an arrow stick. I have also seen some newer HPD cars with the Freedoms with the lower level being amber and the top being regular r/b.
 

Fast LT1

Member
May 24, 2010
2,018
Sedgwick County, KS
chono said:
They look amazing!

The only thing im wondering though is why does that crown vic have stealth graphics and then have a decal on the front windshield?

Cause you cant really see the front window graphics when the car is sitting shooting radar!
 

NVFD612

Member
May 25, 2010
167
Indiana
In addition on the "stealth graphics". When you are driving like an idiot you are less likely to notice the graphics on the sides, and when the unit gets behind you and turns into a red and blue christmas tree, you know its HPD behind you.... ;-)


Dennis


resQyou
 

cory y

Member
May 21, 2010
1,614
D

nerdly_dood said:
The back door says, more or less "Choose your ride" - as in, are you gonna take a cab or a cop car?

And I hate to say it, but I much prefer the current strobe/LED combo over the older all-color strobe setup - I think the all-colors-everywhere design kinda sucks - better option would be red/white to the front and blue/amber to the back, or red/white/blue to the front and red/amber/blue to the back.h


It totally ruins the purpose of each light - red means stop, blue means police, white is an attention-getter, and amber means caution or slow down - so for that reason I'm picky about where certain colors of lights should go.


Boy you're gonna beat that "red means stop" horse untill its a bottle of elmers arnt ya?


The car is a TEXAS car and in TEXAS we run basically whatever the hell we wanna run whereever we wanna run it. Its been effective for decades why change it. Houston chose those color schemes for a reason. The RWAB to the front and rear is damned effective. You want a trip? Garland, TX fd is using all 5 safety colors RWBAG on their trucks and medics. With RWBG to the front RGAB to the rear and sides and you know what? It works. The general public is stupid. They don't care what color is where they (generally) see lights behind them and think "oh that's a big fire truck maybe I should move" or "hmmm that is a car with flashing lights its a cop that wants me to pull over" not "well its a big fire truck but he has blue so it must not be a fire truck". Generally, at least here, and most everywhere else, people see a flashing light and it triggers a response. Be it RWBAG.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
cory y said:
D


Boy you're gonna beat that "red means stop" horse untill its a bottle of elmers arnt ya?


The car is a TEXAS car and in TEXAS we run basically whatever the hell we wanna run whereever we wanna run it. Its been effective for decades why change it. Houston chose those color schemes for a reason. The RWAB to the front and rear is damned effective. You want a trip? Garland, TX fd is using all 5 safety colors RWBAG on their trucks and medics. With RWBG to the front RGAB to the rear and sides and you know what? It works. The general public is stupid. They don't care what color is where they (generally) see lights behind them and think "oh that's a big fire truck maybe I should move" or "hmmm that is a car with flashing lights its a cop that wants me to pull over" not "well its a big fire truck but he has blue so it must not be a fire truck". Generally, at least here, and most everywhere else, people see a flashing light and it triggers a response. Be it RWBAG.[/quote:1ijbc76x]


I'll agree that nobody but us knows what color means what... but the amber to the front has always bothered me too.... I'm not saying it isn't effective, I just like the NFPA syle where the white shuts off when parked and the amber is rear only.
 

Citabria7GCBC

Member
May 21, 2010
142
Houston Texas
The rear amber is a mute point by now. More and more HPD fleet is all LED now. Very few full strobe bars now days. So most of the fleet doesnt have amber in the front anyways anymore. As time goes on it will go away completely.....thus, its really a mute point.


I have never had a problem with it in the past though...


My partener changed the lenses on our strobe bar years ago. switched the rear clear to the front and the front amber to the rear.


It Ended up being:


Front: R/W/W/B


Rear: R/A/A/B
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Citabria7GCBC said:
My partener changed the lenses on our strobe bar years ago. switched the rear clear to the front and the front amber to the rear.


It Ended up being:


Front: R/W/W/B


Rear: R/A/A/B

Good idea
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
JohnMarcson said:
Good idea
+1 I don't much like clear to the rear, and I HATE amber to the front.
 

minig0d

Member
Mar 29, 2013
689
LA & TX
HPD84 said:
I know it's been some years,about time to bring it back alive! If you have any HPD Pics,please post them here.

ai47.photobucket.com_albums_f196_m3rican_2010_20Police_20Equipment_20Sales_dbb4c7c4.jpg


ai47.photobucket.com_albums_f196_m3rican_2010_20Police_20Equipment_20Sales_c086283f.jpg

Holy purple blob batman... looks just like the purple blob HPD motorcycle video I took:


How about some pics of the new b&w scheme to bring the thread back to life too :)


Houston-Police-Car.jpg
 

Troop

Member
Nov 14, 2013
85
East Coast
Nice looking vehicles. I think I liked that marked slicktop on the car-hauler the best for some reason.


I visited Texas for the first time in February of 2012. I always try to take pictures of police vehicles wherever I go but only the opportunity to grab three my entire trip, one being a Houston PD car:


afarm8.staticflickr.com_7182_6902737453_efaf207320_z.jpg


I like how they tint their cars, must help in that Texas heat. However, at least clean up where the old bumper-stickers used to be! It's just my opinion that bumper-stickers look like crap on police cars...
 
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HPD84

Member
May 16, 2010
1,693
City of Houston,Texas
Major update on my thread. We have now went to B/W Scheme. We have a variety of models, most of the new fleet is Tahoe but we do have the new interceptor, utility, and very few charger and caprice. Depending on what fiscal year budget they were purchased with some have all new equipment and some have recycled light bars from crown vics on the tahoes.
 
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