Philadelphia Police (through the years)

Photo 2 and Photo 16 show the ligthbars I was building and installing while working for Havis Shields circa 1974. I was in the Navy stationed at Warminster, started out rebuilding starters and generators. They got out of that business and started with emergency lights. I have a picture somewheres of a Chevy El Camino we had set up as an emergency vehicle demonstrator.
 
Since you are a motor officer, can you explain the difference between traffic and highway patrol bikes? I see bikes w the T and H designations and never knew the difference.
 
r1ms12 said:
Since you are a motor officer, can you explain the difference between traffic and highway patrol bikes? I see bikes w the T and H designations and never knew the difference.
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Well, here it goes......prior to 2004, all Philly's Harleys were assigned to Highway Patrol. Highway Patrol was divided into 2 "units" The expressway squads, which patrolled the interstates within the city, and the Line squad, which patrolled all the cityys high crime areas in 2 man cars. the motors or "wheels" were divided among the 2 units. In early 2004, Highways Commanding Officer decided that highway was only going to fight crime in the high crime areas. So the expressway was transferred into the traffic unit. So any officer that was assigned a wheel and was going to traffic kept their wheels and they were renumbered and redecaled with the traffic patch. The traffic unit uses them for patrolling the expressways, now just US#1 and some other highways within the city. Highway uses them for details Presidential, dignitaries, etc. along with traffic. Bsically if there is a big detail all the wheels are used no matter where they are assigned. We all work together. Just in different units. Hope that helped:D
 
I have a vague recollection as a kid, back during the red and white days, mid to late sixties I guess, of some Philly PD cars having a light on the roof shaped like a taxi cab light. They had white lettering on a red backround. I think they were worded Police and had a car number on the top.


Is my memory failing me yet again or did they have something like that? If so, what's the story behind it?
 
You mean like this one? This is a 66 Plymouth with a "Foot Patrol" sign on the roof. The car is assigned to the TFP, Tactical Foot Patrol, that would be assigned to areas in need of additional foot soldiers.


The car would be left on a block with the light activated, thereby citizens would know a cop or two was in the neighborhood.


A similar set up was used by Baltimore and Washington Metro PDs. The BPD Chevy shows the light a bit clearer.


Another unusual roof set up that was used by many departments in the 60s was the roof recall light. Shown below on a Baltimore 66 Ford, this light would be activated by headquarters via a tone encoder that would let the officer know that HQ was looking for him when out of the car. This was before the wide use of portable radios, and was only efficient if the officer was close enough to see his car.

PAppd66ply.jpg

MDbpd68chev.jpg

MDbpdfootptl.JPG

MDbpd66fordrecall.jpg
 
ny04350 said:
You mean like this one? This is a 66 Plymouth with a "Foot Patrol" sign on the roof. The car is assigned to the TFP, Tactical Foot Patrol, that would be assigned to areas in need of additional foot soldiers.

The car would be left on a block with the light activated, thereby citizens would know a cop or two was in the neighborhood.


A similar set up was used by Baltimore and Washington Metro PDs. The BPD Chevy shows the light a bit clearer.


Another unusual roof set up that was used by many departments in the 60s was the roof recall light. Shown below on a Baltimore 66 Ford, this light would be activated by headquarters via a tone encoder that would let the officer know that HQ was looking for him when out of the car. This was before the wide use of portable radios, and was only efficient if the officer was close enough to see his car.
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Yes I believe that is it! Thank you so much. I've been wondering for years and years what that was all about. Funny how things get in your head as a kid and stay lodged there.
 
I enjoy the early crown victoria pictures. And I think they need to put the cops on the bus again and let them patrol the streets again. I bet that might calm down some crime.
 
ff168577 said:
I enjoy the early crown victoria pictures. And I think they need to put the cops on the bus again and let them patrol the streets again. I bet that might calm down some crime.
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I agree, from my old co workers it's terrible up there.....for some time in the 90's they had TRT (tactical response teams) they drove 2 man in the Z wagons.....but that went away....
 
LRGJr72 said:
That IS a Condor. And I was just about to disagree with you. The original Sireno Condor had a ridiculously huge profile from all angles, taller & wider than the TwinSonic. The Condor in the picture looks like an early attempt at a low-profile design, similar to a Smith & Wesson bar. I guess this Philly bar was a second generation Condor. The first pic below is the Condor as I know it (catalog page). The second two pics must be the second generation. It looks like the topside dimensions are identical, but they literally cut the heighth of the bar in half and changed up the design of the base. Interesting.

*** All three pics below originated from other posts on eLightbars.
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tried to find a pic that shoed this lightbar...

phl903.jpg
 
exphillycop said:
I agree, from my old co workers it's terrible up there.....for some time in the 90's they had TRT (tactical response teams) they drove 2 man in the Z wagons.....but that went away....
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Yeah one of my close friends, works in the 39th, and says it just keeps getting worse and worse. January he has to start is 1 year of required grave shift. He has been on for about a yr and half, and as much as he does not want to go to grave shift, he would rather get it done and over with now then later on.
 
ff168577 said:
Yeah one of my close friends, works in the 39th, and says it just keeps getting worse and worse. January he has to start is 1 year of required grave shift. He has been on for about a yr and half, and as much as he does not want to go to grave shift, he would rather get it done and over with now then later on.
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Tell him to be careful up there...the 39th is a real shithole.....had some of my best arrest in the 39th when I was in Highway........they do like to fight there too!
 
Will do, he has gotten in to a few scrums on day shift and mid shift already. He hates working the "parade's" (i.e. puerto rican day parade).
 
Probably for like barriers or other things that are involved with streets and stuff for parades and such.
 
thanks for all the pics i was born and raised in the west 19dist to be exact and had family on the job many of those color schemes and lightbars i remember as a kid was a nice flashback.
 
exphillycop said:
2013 interceptor
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Interesting they did a surface-mount light on the side of the unmarked car when there are kits to put a light in place of the gills right below it.
 
jph2 said:
Interesting they did a surface-mount light on the side of the unmarked car when there are kits to put a light in place of the gills right below it.
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That car will be a marked "slick top"......don't know why the city went with that setup instead of the side grille lights........but that's Philly....
 
Great pics in this thread!


Around the early 90s, I recall seeing on TV (either news or COPS) that the PPD carried stretchers on the their vans to scoop-and-run shooting victims. The reasoning was that cops were usually first in, and with the density of hospitals in the city, the pt could be in the ED sooner than EMS could have reached the scene. Anyone know how long that practice lasted?


NYPD used to do a lot of back-seat med transport as well, in the days of 10s-of-minutes EMS response times.
 
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