Badder Boys: When Police level the playing field

By Charlie Turner

Stopped at a red, you look to your right. A jet-black Mustang GT with white racing stripes glares back. You rev the engine and the light flashes green. White smoke billows as rubber meets pavement and you take off screaming through the open intersection. As you shift into second, you glance at the rear view mirror. The Mustang is keeping up. It’s also pulling you over.

Just another day for traffic enforcement officers in the Detroit suburb of Harper Woods, Michigan.

From the left, the car appears as nothing more than your everyday Mustang — no markings or badges indicative of a police vehicle. But cross to the right and the word “POLICE” printed in bold lettering stares back from the fender along with a police insignia and the phrase “traffic enforcement” scrolled down the side.

Deputy chief of police James Burke said the car is frequently mistaken for a potential racer.

“We’ve had a lot of people wanting to drag race our officers,” Burke said. “They’ll pull up and rev their engine.”

“They didn’t know it was a police car until too late,” added officer Tom Silva.

And if you’re unlucky enough to make that mistake, expect to be immediately greeted by an array of blue and red lights cleverly tucked in at the top of the front and bottom of the back windshields, beneath the side-view mirrors and between the two strobe fog lights on the grill.

Pop the hood, however, and the surprises end. Although this writer may have hoped for a supercharged 5.4L pony mill — stock in Ford’s beefier Shelby GT-500 – the cruiser sports the GT’s standard 4.6L V8 powerplant. Though 300 hp is nothing to shake a stick at, especially among a fleet of tired Crown Victoria Interceptors.

“It’s just so damn fast!” Burke said.

Fortunately for lead-footed motorists, it’s unlikely you’ll be seeing many more of these stealthy speed extinguishers. Apparently, due to the low ground clearance, poor handling in icy or even wet conditions and the almost non-existent back seat, the Mustang is not exactly the ideal police car.

But at least it looks cool.