LF06 KXT This silver BMW 5 Series Touring diesel is a demonstrator police vehicle. It has a full width clear LED light bar that is attached to the roof rails and is complemented by the small repeater blue LEDs on the grille. Notice that the roof marking reads ‘BMW’ instead of a real identifier code.
NK03 PNU Here is a Durham Constabulary Mercedes E320 which has stopped to help a damaged car on the A1. The row of red lights scroll to the right to show motorists which way to pass. From in front no lights can be seen illuminated.
YJ55 TNU This Citroen Dispatch is a Crime Scene Investigation Unit with North Yorkshire Police. It carries the same livery and blue lights as a normal patrol vehicles.
Hampshire police use this white Ford Transit for carrying police officers. It has very minimal livery and two blue rotating beacons on the roof.
This scene shows a police Mercedes Benz in the ‘fend-off’ position on a three-lane carriageway. It is positioned so that vehicle in the distance can see the blue lights and the vivid livery. In the distance you can see the reason for the lane closures; a fire.
LJ55 EOL The Metropolitan Police in London have for the second time borrowed a yellow Lamborghini Gallardo and made it into a police car for the day. The first one was an 04-registration but looked identical to this.
The rear view of the Lambo. It was used to attract people at the start of the Gumball Rally so police could chat to them about a mutual topic.
YJ53 EKT This North Yorkshire Police Volvo V70 T5 is used for road policing duties. It is one of a small number to be fitted with a roof-mounted infrared light (see inset). This is used in conjunction with a rear-facing ANPR camera that can read vehicles’ registration plates far better than a regular camera. The Pips Technology infrared camera can read plates in heavy rain, fog, sunlight glare and headlight glare. IR is invisible to the human eye and is reflected by number plates in the same way that visible light is.
BF05 LZK This Land Rover Discovery 3 is a demonstrator that is fitted with a super-low-profile light bar on the roof.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland use this semi rigid boat to patrol Lough Erne in County Fermanagh. It is based at the Enniskillen PSNI Station.
AJ53 VJA South Wales Police (Heddlu De Cymru) operate this silver Ford Focus C-Max. It is used for general patrol work in the Cardiff area.
The rear view of the Ford.
CN03 AUR This Peugeot Partner 800 LX van is another South Wales vehicle. It has a minimal livery with bilingual wording on the bonnet, a single row of battenburg down each side and a small double blue light.
The rear view of the same Peugeot which is used by traffic wardens.
CN05 MXF This sporty grey Ford Mondeo is used by Gwent Police. It has full battenburg markings up the sides, but has a very subtle livery when viewed from the front. The ‘police’ wording is difficult to see at a distance and the blue led light bar on the roof has clear lenses.
The usual red and yellow chevrons have been applied to the rear of the Mondeo. The ‘police’ wording has been broken up slightly by the four parking sensors in the bumper. Also notice the large alloy wheels and low profile tyres.
CE52 ULJ Another South Wales vehicle is this Mercedes Benz C class. It has ‘heddlu’ and ‘police’ in large letters across the bonnet.
CN03 FLX is a BMW X5 again with Gwent Police (Heddlu Gwent). It has battenburg markings over silver paintwork and is used for motorway patrol work.
The rear view of the BMW showing the bilingual wording and crimestoppers advert.
YJ05 ACY is a police Mercedes Vito 115 CDI. It is liveried a s a ‘police support’ vehicle and this North Yorkshire Police long-wheel base example does not have any emergency warning equipment fitted. It is used for non-urgent transportation of items, such as mail.
GX04 LCZ This is a silver Mercedes E320 CDI belonging to Sussex police. It has a six cylinder turbo diesel engine and is decked out in full battenburg markings. It is parked in front of a Vauxhall Movano ANPR van which has free-standing cameras looking down on to the traffic below.
This is a side-on shot showing the approved livery for police motorway use on a Volvo S60.
X752 NWR This photograph shows a Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000 AWD in North Yorkshire police livery. This is actually a model by Trofeu of a real-life vehicle.
Here is the same Impreza alongside it’s real-life counterpart. You can see there has been great attention to detail.
EU55 RZV and EU55 JZF Here are a pair of Essex Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIIIs. These super-quick rally-bred cars are assigned to the automatic number plate recognition (anpr) intercept team. Unusually they have this written on the front and back of the cars. They both have low profile blue led light bars with additional repeater lights front and rear.
A close look at the rear of one of the ANPR Evos.EU55 RZV and EU55 JZF Here are a pair of Essex Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIIIs. These super-quick rally-bred cars are assigned to the automatic number plate recognition (anpr) intercept team. Unusually they have this written on the front and back of the cars. They both have low profile blue led light bars with additional repeater lights front and rear.
YE54 KVL This BMW Mini One was given to Tayside Police in February 2005. It is used by the Crime Reduction Team for non-urgent police work such as security surveys and giving presentations (hence no blue lights). It is sponsored by ‘Sidney Glazing’ and has their company logos on the sides, above the wording ‘supporting crime reduction in Tayside’. It has an unusual livery with the battenburg markings flowing over the bonnet.
LV52 VOC and LV02 SYT Two Metropolitan Police community support officers (pcso’s) are seen here riding silver Vespa scooters through the capital.
Three of GMP’s vehicles in their workshops. In the foreground is a Vauxhall Astra Van in the older ‘stripe’ livery. On the jacks in the background are a ‘battenburg’ Mercedes M class and a Volvo.
FX04 KYZ This Ford Transit is used by Lincolnshire Police as part of the local road safety partnership.
A distant view of the same Transit shows that the rear windows can open up to reveal a safety (speed) camera.
Here are three Surrey police vehicles at the Clacket Lane services on the M25. The car is a Vauxhall Vectra estate 3.2 GSi with motorway specification battenburg markings. The two LGVs are Iveco Ford based mobile custody suites. Usually sent to different locations, in this instance they are deployed back to back with both rear doors open and a short gangplank connecting each unit. These vans have full prisoner handling facilities with cells, toilets, interview room and equipment to fingerprint and photograph prisoners. On the roof of each is a satellite dish giving communications and data handling abilities.
YK05 EEU This is a North Yorkshire Police Iveco personnel transporter. It is the long wheel base version and has a slide-down riot shield to cover the windscreen. It also has a host of other modifications for riot-type situations. This includes strengthened glass and under floor protection.
The rear view of the personnel carrier. The rear portion is for equipment storage and the rest of the van can accommodate about ten officers seated.
V307 DCB This Ford Transit is used by Greater Manchester Police and a PSU carrier.
YY52 MXF This Ford Transit is operated by Humberside Police. It is not fitted with any emergency warning equipment, but has the same livery as the other Humberside blue-light vehicles.
LJ04 LUW is a Metropolitan Police yellow Lamborghini Gallardo. This £117,000, 492 bhp, 192 mph supercar has the common blue and yellow battenburg markings down the sides and a blue lightbar on the roof. Unfortunately this Lambo is not operational! It was loaned to the Met for one day (Sunday 4 September 2005) for the traffic police stand at London’s Regent Street festival.
A Humberside police Nissan X-trail.
V658 NUM is a West Yorkshire Mercedes Sprinter. It is a command unit with a miniature office inside and a telescopic communications mast on the rear. The van has four small blue lights and notice how the registration plate has been adjusted to be seen behind the mast.
YJ55 TTF This North Yorks. Volvo V70 T5 is used by the road policing unit. It was new to the force in September 2005, one of the first vehicles in the fleet to carry the ’55’ date identifier on its registration plate.
The rear view of the same T5. Notice how the red flashing lights have been fitted diagonally on the rear to follow the chevron patterning.
WM04 YJA This Mitsubishi Evo 8 is a menacing looking police car. Its base colour is silver and it is fitted with a low-profile blue light bar on the roof. Its livery is generic.
The rear view of the racy Evo. It is usually driven by highly trained traffic officers to pursue fast-moving cars. It also serves in a pro-active role of discouraging people from attempting to evade the police.
X47 XNG This diesel Land Rover Defender 90 is used by police to access rough ground or hilly areas in winter, when its ‘go anywhere’ 4×4 capability is required.
BU05 OFY West Midlands police operate this Renault Espace MPV. It is similar in appearance to the terrorist-response units used by the BTP in London. It has a single row of battenburg up the sides and has blue flashing lights in the front grille and on the roof.
Y838 TOV This is a 2001 Peugeot 306 diesel also from West Midlands. Notice the large advert in the rear window concerning mobile ‘phone theft.
BT51 BZF Here is another West Midlands diesel, this time a LDV Cub. The rear windows are blanked out to hide the cage used to house people taken into custody.
One of Hampshire Police’s Collision Investigation Units waiting to board the ferry to the Isle of Wight, an inaccessible area they cover. On the roof of the Ford Galaxy are two full-width light bars and a telescopic floodlight mast.
MX54 KFG A Greater Manchester Police Ford Transit 260 SWB. Notice the blue roof which wraps over to both sides.
EY04 DVK Essex police have a number of vehicles with dark body colours. This Land Rover Discovery V8 has dark blue paint under the reflective livery. The positive side is that the police get more money when they sell them on, but the flip side is that they are less recognisable as police vehicles on the road.
C312 FHS This Ford Granada shows the minimal colouring of a 1980’s police traffic car. When responding to an emergency, the additional front fog lamps can be illuminated along with the headlights. Also the blue beacon on the roof and repeater on the grille flash. The air-horns mounted on the police box souind a two-tone siren.
This photo shows the standard livery for a British traffic policing car as well as the recommended high-visibility uniform.
YJ55 TTF An extreme close-up look at a 2005 Volvo V70 T5.
This P-registration Iveco truck is used by Cumbria police as a Command and Control Unit.
NX03 FZA is a Cleveland Police Skoda Octavia. It is used by the traffic division as an ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) car.
NX03 KWZ is another traffic policing car from Cleveland, this time a Mercedes Benz E-class.
NU52 UNY a different type of Mercedes that Cleveland also use is this M270.
NX53 AXY For routine police patrols in Cleveland, this Peugeot Expert is used. It has a yellow stripe up the sides as well as a white and blue chequered stripe.
A line up of 11 Metropolitan police motorcycles from the Special Motorcycle Escort Group (SMEG). They are all silver BMW R1100RS’s with minimal markings. BMW replaced this model with the R1150RS in 2001, not long after this photo was taken.
YJ53 ENN This is a shot of the rear of a North Yorkshire Ford Transit that is used for police dogs training.
YJ55 TSV This 2005 Citroen Dispatch is used in the York area as a mobile cctv unit. Notice the camera sticking out of the roof and the ‘Safer York Partnership’ logo on the rear.