Be careful of the image your chase vehicle presents

I have just two antennas on my silver 2008 Honda CR/V.
One for 10m-12m and the other for 2m/70cm
Because this vehicle also bears an Amateur radio callsign on my license plate, I have already been deemed a 'po-po'.
Fortunately, most all folks around here are OK with that.
Years ago, I put an ESpotter sticker on my windows, and several illegals thought I was part of the US Border Patrol.
It was a bit funny at times; but I took them off because people are very confused and ill informed.
But I'm OK with that, I will just volunteer for the local Sheriff Office anyway, and then they can have a reason to hate me.
 
I don't want to look like either LE or a storm chaser. We usually take a sedan or small SUV. Neither look like LE. While the sedan lacks some height and visibility it blends in well. SUV is a model LE does not use.

I infer some (not all) people from rural areas or bigger cities back East are uncomfortable in Plains cities. Those of us who live in Heartland cities can say it's perfectly safe. Avoid civil unrest, obviously. However the only demonstration I saw was pretty laid back, more like a tail-gate party.

Again I avoid all of it. Even if one supports the cause, half the protesters don't take covid precautions.

However I'll stop in town for cheaper gas. I'll stay in town for a nice motel. I'll take-out food in town because we all know KC BBQ is the best! Also Wichita has some surprisingly tasty ethnic food (Vietnamese, Lebanese, Malaysian).
 
Jeff House said:
I don't want to look like either LE or a storm chaser. We usually take a sedan or small SUV. Neither look like LE. While the sedan lacks some height and visibility it blends in well. SUV is a model LE does not use.
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LEs don't run Nissans either and I've been mistaken for one due to my ham antennas. First couple of times really caught me off guard as I thought it was common knowledge what makes get bought up by agencies.
 
Pj Heckman said:
Think this was pretty much covered in a couple of threads below about those who need 5 lightbars and 50 amber lights on their Honda CRV
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Speaking from my own personal experience, light bars have nothing to do with it. I've never run even an off road light on any vehicle I've owned, but have been mistaken before, much like Warren has. Most of the amateur radio stuff I do has nothing to do with chasing, so I probably have a couple more antennas than Warren does on my vehicle. I do use commercial radios (primarily Kenwood or Motorola) as it's much easier to sort frequencies into zones, but you can't tell that from outside the vehicle.

And yes Mark, I agree wholeheartedly.
 
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I have a blacked out Toyota Tundra but I do not look like a LEO or storm chaser while out as I do not do stickers and I only have a small cell booster antenna on top. I do have a lot of hail damage since I got it in 2008 though lol. 🤣

I figure you are more of a target with stickers and such if LEO wants to do a Harper county on you, :mad:
 
Probably the same way it worked when that same question was getting kicked around on Hamsexy over 15 years ago.

Oddly enough, I've seen that truck before.

I have last-gen Ford Taurus that has a brush guard and a bunch of red lights and a siren on it. I have EMS tags, and a front plate that displays my Fire Police Captain rank. It has a bunch of antennas. If someone mistakes it for a police vehicle, I can't help their mental condition or inability to read. If someone wants to take it somewhere it's not supposed to go, that's what the gun is for.
 
Once thing we teach at the academy is situational awareness. Know where you are and what/who is around and routes of escape.

What we cannot teach is common sense.

So when I see the wacker vehicles here and on the road, sometimes you have to wonder what kind of police/fire/EMS/Twister/AAA fantasy and image they are trying to project.

On the emergency services side, in states that allow POV responses (and for that matter those that don’t) we have our share of “over the top” vehicles and we try to internally limit that.

With the Internet/Galls and then eBay of the late 90’s, equipment became more freely available so those who prob shouldn’t have it now have easier access to it.

That being said, we are seeing more unstable people with it and it’s legitimacy of seeing certain vehicles and people is rapidly declining. Remember all the roadside fake cop rapes of the 90’s and early 2000’s? There you go.

There is a new trend we are seeing with all these AAA/Roadside assistance wannbe’s. Kids and adults are lightning up their vehicles with lights and stopping along the roadways to play AAA for disabled vehicles. You can see risk there already.

Even amber lights, behind a clear or colored lens - still projects an image to the general public (for good or for bad intent).

Now, those who want to deck their vehicles out and want to look copish so that people are intimidated to move out of their way - also know that as stated previously - the bad guys who are emboldened today will not be looking at your license plates - stickers or the 99 ham radio saves lives stickers.

they see a crown Vic or other fleet vehicle looking car and will damage and challenge you.

My ride ispersonally owned and used in public safety. I have non-government plates that reflects the fire serivce. Outside of that, it easily looks like a LE low profile vehicle.

When I’m out chasing, I look at where itmay be ending, check the area of town and make apporiate descisions on lodging fuel and food.

Also with credentials I do carry and have appropriate locking devices and/or items removed from the vehicle.

The choice is yours - practice common sense and don’t look and act like a tool - know where you are.

Still waiting for someone to legitly tell me that the 35 traffic arrows on the rear of their Honda Civic made the tornado move around them when the tornado saw the arrow pointing left...
 
No hard feelings, really, but the PJH schtick got old by 2008, 2009 or so. The dead horse has been getting beaten for at least a decade.

If someone has the proper credentials, who cares what they drive, or how it's outfitted? So, they have more warning lights than someone would like? Meh.

If they don't, let the law sort it out.

And let the rule of the jungle sort it out. If someone isn't smart enough to have situational awareness, I've never understood how that's anyone's business other than the people who lack it themselves.

I just don't see having the energy to care so much, for so long.
 
That’s the beauty of living in a free country. Everyone is different and to each their own. I choose to go low-profile but others might not and that’s fine with me. Those who have been mistaken for LEOs have another feather in their cap that makes for good conversation IMHO. I just go my own way and hope to see others I might know in the field for a chance meeting. It actually unnerves local communities to see ‘chasers’ show up on severe weather days. We’re part of an unmistakable outfit so people are naturally interested in what we do, why we’re there, their near-term personal safety, and are fascinated by our vehicles, equipment, and gear.
 
One very well know chaser drove a surplus police car for a few years (he drove something else in 2020 when I say him), and he told me that he did that "so fewer people messed with him". I didn't get to inquire about what he meant. Although in 2020, I have to wonder if being in a surplus police car might cause more people to mess with you. It might depend on where you are at.
 
I chase incognito. Chances are you have passed by me on a chase before and had no idea who it was, especially pre-2017.

After my baseball-hail-smashing chase near Ada, OK in March 2017, my vehicle may be slightly more recognizable as a chaser vehicle given the extensive hail dents, but still...I don't use markings, and for the very reasons many others have stated. Also, I don't use CB radios or anything like that. I do not see my duty out there to be first response or reporting (nowadays, I never chase an event that doesn't have dozens of others also on it who are more eager to send reports). Should I ever find myself on a chase in which I felt like I was one of the only ones around, I would certainly make an effort to report what I see. However, I have felt those days are long gone, and hence it has eased any pressure on me. I prefer to just enjoy the sky without dealing with crowds or enthusiasts. That said, I certainly am willing to converse with others who are stopped nearby.

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