Hey, No Fare!

We all know there are sneaky police cars driving around, pretending very hard to look like normal vehicles. Ghost cars. It's sort of a "hidden camera" way of watching the masses when they don't think they're being watched. (And that's a silly thing to think anyhow, because we all know we're always being watched, everywhere.)

On several occasions in various discussions, people seem to think this is an acceptable method of surveillance. But I can suggest a better way for cops to watch us, by having police cars masquerading as taxi cabs.

But why not?

I mean, most taxis and police cruisers are the same models: Ford Crown Victoria or Chevrolet Caprice or the like. Barely anyone else really drives these beasts except those two professions. And they both have those huge search light things in the front A pillars, for finding addresses or criminals, respectively. There is typically more than one person riding in either of them, and sometimes one person is in the back. There is often a divider between the front and rear seats -- either a cage or plexiglass or something like that. And both types have light fixtures on the TOP of cars, as well as identifying vehicle numbers along the sides or back. Amazing similarities, I'd say.

So it's an obvious match, right? Perfect as a disguise, really. But without fail, the response to my idea is negative.

It's too sneaky.
It's underhanded.
They're pretending to be something they're not.
That's not fair.

And?? That's exactly what ghost cars are. I guess I don't understand why it's okay for a cop car to be disguised as a normal car (which they aren't) but not as a taxicab (which they're also not).