Was there a code in CT for blue lights.

[1968]

I noticed that in the 70s and 80s the troopers used only blue lights, along with several local agencies. I also noticed that in the 80s and 90s on they had the blue side of the bars on the driver side when usually it would be red on drivers side. What was the deal then if anyone here knows the particulars?

 

[dmathieu]

In the 60s their lighting was a portable RED Vitalite, Fire Ball, Corporal, or Deputy.

 

[kitn1mcc]

CT used to run all Blue then when the Edge bars came out they went red and blue.

In Ct police have always been able to run what ever color they want.

 

[ur20v]

My cousin was a CT State Trooper when I was growing up, and I remember when they changed over from the massive blue dome Whelen strobe to the Edge bars. His cruisers also had rear deck lights, dual DashMasters and then DashMisers. I became a volunteer fire fighter in the late '90s and we were allowed blue lights (with a permit) and the chiefs were allowed red. I worked in Massachusetts and blue lights were verboten as that's what the Mass State Police uses. My cousin taught me to cover my strobes with black pantyhose to camouflage them in my windshield and rear window; a trick that he and his fellow Troopers used to remain "stealthy" when they took the Edge off the roof of their cruiser... Not that a giant Crown Vic can be very stealthy.

 

[cabunty]

My cousin was a CT State Trooper when I was growing up, and I remember when they changed over from the massive blue dome Whelen strobe to the Edge bars. His cruisers also had rear deck lights, dual DashMasters and then DashMisers. I became a volunteer fire fighter in the late '90s and we were allowed blue lights (with a permit) and the chiefs were allowed red. I worked in Massachusetts and blue lights were verboten as that's what the Mass State Police uses. My cousin taught me to cover my strobes with black pantyhose to camouflage them in my windshield and rear window; a trick that he and his fellow Troopers used to remain "stealthy" when they took the Edge off the roof of their cruiser... Not that a giant Crown Vic can be very stealthy.

...I absolutely remember the pantyhose! They actually did a good job concealing the grille lights in my car.

 

[RDT Car 25]

My cousin was a CT State Trooper when I was growing up, and I remember when they changed over from the massive blue dome Whelen strobe to the Edge bars. His cruisers also had rear deck lights, dual DashMasters and then DashMisers. I became a volunteer fire fighter in the late '90s and we were allowed blue lights (with a permit) and the chiefs were allowed red. I worked in Massachusetts and blue lights were verboten as that's what the Mass State Police uses. My cousin taught me to cover my strobes with black pantyhose to camouflage them in my windshield and rear window; a trick that he and his fellow Troopers used to remain "stealthy" when they took the Edge off the roof of their cruiser... Not that a giant Crown Vic can be very stealthy.

I know a few guys that got tickets crossing into Massachusetts for the Fire Show at the Big E. The pantyhose trick did work great and saved you from getting ticketed.

 

[wfdstation42]

In the 70's and 80's Vermont and Maine also had police that ran blue only.

 

[ur20v]

I just read through some of the "official location based warning law discussion" thread and I remembered something... March 31st, 1997 - the beginning of The April Fools Day Blizzard. I lived in CT and worked in Shrewsbury, MA. I left work around 10:30pm, and the snowfall had been getting steadily heavier through the evening. By the time I hit 395 it was a full-blown blizzard and visibility was almost nil. Being young and dumb I decided to press on, keeping my eye on the guardrail reflectors to keep me on the road. There wasn't a lot of traffic, but there were the usual morons in jacked up 4x4s who thought the laws of physics didn't apply to them and their machines (as I recall, one or two wound up on their lid in the median), so I turned the blue Dashmisers in my rear window on, just to be seen from a greater distance. At one point I saw another set of headlights quickly moving up behind me but in the lane to my left. Next thing I know I see the familiar two-tone blue paint job of a Mass statey followed by a second or two of right alley light in my window... I'm sure he would've loved to pull me over and yank me out of the car by the hair on my head had the conditions been more favorable and he didn't have more important things to do - but then again, I wouldn't have even turned my lights on if it wasn't such a horrible storm. It was probably my one and only "freebie"!