# Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me ?



## jtice (Dec 22, 2003)

I was wanting to install one of those police spotlights, the kind that are on the side of the windshield, what can be moved and pointed from inside the car.
But, I wanted to make sure they are legal for me as a civilian to use.
I dont see how it could be illegal for me to have one, as long as I only use it for offroad purposes.


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## Saaby (Dec 22, 2003)

I'm going to venture out on a limb here and say yes they're legal. I've seen civilianized cop cars that still have the light attached. Then again maybe somebody at the state fleet office just really really screwed up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif


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## bwcaw (Dec 22, 2003)

They are legal as long as you don't use them while you are driving I think. Similar to off road lights.


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## IlluminatingBikr (Dec 22, 2003)

Sounds like a neat idea ticey. Any idea on where you can purchase these?


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## Roy (Dec 22, 2003)

Would not want to go deer huntimg with an external spotlight mounted on the car/truck! Hard to explain to the Game Warden!


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## guncollector (Dec 22, 2003)

Alternatively, you can try one of the remotely controlled _and removable_ car-mountable spotlights by GoLight.

Like this one:







They have quite a selection of them, check them out here.

HTH


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## jtice (Dec 22, 2003)

Well, sounds like I can have one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I want the 100W ones like the cops have.
And as IllBiker said,,, anyone know a good place to purchase one of these?


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## Tomas (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

Many of the cabs in town have 'em so they can find addresses ... 

'Round here, legal to have but some uses are unlawful. Last one I had was on a '73 Land Cruiser FJ40. 

Enjoy!


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## IlluminatingBikr (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

Ticey,

Here are some links to places where you can buy Golight spotlights.

Reos Enterprises 
AW Direct 
Botach 
WJ Enterprises 
Southwest Public Safety 
CSP Outdoors 

I think your best bet will be to Go with the Golight. Your price should be around $200 or so.


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## jtice (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

The Go light is alot bigger, and I want something perminate.
That thing would get stolen in a day, and Im not about to take it off the truck and lock it up each night. 

Plus, the police one is actually tougher, and easier to use.
I used to see them at JCWhitney. But I didnt see them there when I looked earlier.


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## Velcro (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*






They are called The Beam spotlights and are made by Unity.

http://www.unityusa.com

They also have a HID model. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif


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## jtice (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

AHHH cool thanks.
Yea I saw those HID ones,,, $$$$$$$$$$$ /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
Looks like about $160 for a 250,000 CP one. Not tooo bad.
Although, I would be perfectly happy finding a cheaper one, and modding it! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif


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## Silviron (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

I had a "retired cop car" complete with a spotlight a couple of decades ago, and once driving down the one of the main streets of Albuquerque about 2:30AM one morning, I was passed by a car doing about 80MPH and weaving all over the road.

I flashed them with the spotlight (that is ALL I did). There were two off-duty cops in a "personal" car behind me. 

They "badged" me and motioned me to pull over, which I did. They then arrested me at gunpoint, charged me with impersonating a police officer and while one of them held me laying on the ground with his foot on the back of my neck and a gun at my head, his partner went and called some on-duty cops who took me and threw me in jail where I languished for two days (Wasn't allowed a phone call) before I saw the judge.

Oh, the arresting officer's partner also took a baseball bat and smashed the spotlight into powdered glass and scrap metal while we were waiting for the On-Duty officers to pick me up. Cracked my windshield when he missed one of his swings

Judge threw out the charges and let me go, but told me that he could have fined me $20.00 for unauthorized use of emergency equipment. 

For a couple of years afterward I wished that I had gotten the arresting officers names. I REALLY wanted to meet them again.

Mostly I have a LOT of respect, appreciation and friendship for Police Officers, but guys like this really make me angry

Just a word to the wise. Better to use a handheld in case you run across a couple of guys like I did.


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## paulr (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

If the HID light takes a while to warm up the way handheld HID lights do, for this purpose I think I'd prefer a conventional light that turns on right away. It's not portable and you don't have to worry as much about battery runtime, so if you need more brightness, just use a higher powered lamp.


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## jtice (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

Silviron,

.... all I can say is,,, well,, alot!
I would have been in jail for years for fighting with the cops !!! I know you are not allowed to use them on the streets, ONLY offroad. But, I am telling you,, I would have went ape sh*t if they took a bat to my truck. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif

This makes me want to get one even more though! lol
I also dont have ,,, too much of a problem with cops.
I, and my family have had many times we "needed" them, and they either didnt show up, or didnt help or care at all.
Thats not saying all cops are like that, just my experience with a few in my town. I have also met a couple really cool ones.

I plan to be careful with this, but as I thought from the start, it IS LEGAL to have one, if I only use it offroad.

Thanks for the info. and crazy story.


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## Silviron (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

I'm lucky in the town where I live now. We have a lot of really great Police guys and gals. A few of them are a little too young to be away from their T.O.s direct supervision, but they ALL really try hard to do the right thing; None of them act like Gestappo, they don't run speed traps as a fund-raiser etc.

I unintentionally scared the crap out of one a few months ago, made him fall down and rip his pants, and he didn't hold it against me a bit. Was so nice about it that I wrote up a letter of commendation up for him and sent it to the Chief.


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## jtice (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

olololollol I HAVE to know what you did to scare him!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


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## Silviron (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

Well, Since you are the one that started the thread, I guess it is OK to go off topic...

It was a little after midnight on a Sunday night and I was out road testing some work I had just finished on my 4WD. Drove by an office building that my family owns and leases out to a couple of different companies; noticed that all the lights in the building were on, including some of the vacant, locked offices, and there was a "strange" car kind of hiding behind some of the trees in the back corner of the parking lot.

Not being one to bother the police with things that I can handle myself, on my family's own property, I went in to check the building out, SureFire in one hand and .45 AMT Backup in the other.

Building is secure; No problems, no trace of anything wrong inside other than the lights all being on. After turning off all the lights off, I head out the front door as this young officer _(one of the few in town that don't know me or my vehicle)_ is kind of sneaking up along the side of the building behind the wooden front door which is wide open.

I saw his vehicle blocking the main entrance to the parking lot just about the same time he saw me clearing the doorway.

He started to say something just as I looked around and saw him. I said; "It's OK, I'm one of the owners"... _Not even thinking of what was in my hand._.

About that time, he flicks on his Streamlight and sees the pistol in my hand; says "Oh Sh.., A gun!". He immediately starts backpedaling, trying to draw his weapon, trips over one of the cement parking bumper thingies, Does a backflip with a half gainer.

I set down my weapon & light, go help him up, make sure he is uninjured, let him call for backup, show him my ID, let him handcuff me; After a couple more officers show up, they all go through the building looking for "my accomplices", one of the officers in town that knows me pretty well personally, shows up, ID's me as an OK guy.

Neither I nor the first officer mentioned the gymnastic feat he performed there at the begining, but I have a feeling he figured out that if I had been a bad guy, he would have had to do more than go change his pants.
Oh, and it turned out that the "strange car" in the parking lot belonged to the wife of a police officer in the next township over who was in the bar down the street, and didn't want anyone to know she was there. I don't know if anything ever came of that... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

After everyone else left, he and I hung around for a few minutes chatting, and he was really nice, and friendly. Turned out that he was only a couple of weeks out of the Academy, and he really wasn't supposed to be patrolling on his own yet, but his T.O. had called in sick that night, so he went out alone. If the positions had been reversed, I'd have been both very embarassed and pretty pi....irritated. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif

Other than his initial surprise, he handled himself pretty professionally, did all the right things. It was a pretty "cheap lesson" for him and I think he will probably turn out to be a great cop, and an asset to the community.


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## jtice (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

LOLOLOLOLOL thats halarious.

Actually, you are both lucky niether of you were shot! lol
He actually said" Oh Sh. a gun!" ??? hehe

Eh, as you said, a good lesson for him. and you /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif


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## DieselDave (Dec 22, 2003)

*Re: Are those police car spotlights legal.. for me*

Here's mine. In 98 I had a 97 Lumina former NAS Police vehicle. It had the spotlight on the side but no other markings, with the pie-pan hubcaps it was a giveaway where it came from. People would routinely slow down when they saw me and LEO’s would wave.


About midnight one night I was running down I-10 at about 75 when a Dually pulling about a 30' cattle trailer comes whizzing by me doing 90+. Right as he's abeam my door he makes a determination I ‘m a LEO. He gets on his brakes hard, real hard and that's when it got exciting. His trailer stats fish-tailing as it comes abeam with me. It's getting so wild I am over on the shoulder and applying the binders hard myself. Well, neither one of us wreck but his decision to slam on the brakes because he figured I was the law nearly got us both hurt. The funny part is IF I would have been a LEO his goose would have been cooked long before he came even with me so what's the point of slamming on the brakes?

Back on topic, I pulled the spotlight off and plugged the hole when I sold the car. I gave it to one of the mechanic's at work and he put it on his dune buggy.


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