Thoughts on Storm Whacker...er, Chasers

In some parts of the country there is a large population of “storm chasers’. What these people do is a needed learning tool to help learn about meteorology. In the last decade or two this service, like other volunteer services has gained the membership of people who joined with ulterior motives in mind. Many things have been discovered by true storm chasers. A lot of weather data has been collected from these discoveries and helped us better understand meteorology in general. The sad and sometimes embarrassing fact is whackers have taken to this hobby and used it to justify their lighting abuse. Most true storm chasers have the minimal lighting. Usually this is installed in case there is no where to sit or park without being a traffic hazard. Lighting with these people usually includes a mini light bar, a strobe beacon, or hide away strobes. Most times this lighting is removed when storm chasing is out of season. The whackers usually spend as much on their lighting as their budget allows. A lot of times you will see full light bars, deck and dash lights, grill lights, and even hide away strobes in every OEM light that can take them. Also most times you won’t see these whackers out chasing storms unless they know they are going to use their lights. Also these whackers probably spend more time on their lighting setups than chasing storms. Some times you will see these "chasers" blocking lanes of traffic when there is plenty of opportunity to avoid being a traffic hazard, with all of their lights going. A lot of times these whackers leave all their lights on their vehicle year around just to show them off. As said above, the real chasers do many good things for science and the public in general.

3 months is not a long time ago.....

This week we are going to discuss a certain person who has popped up on a few forums. To give a little background from what I could find, this person started out on various enthusiast forums advertising how he had emergency lights and siren installed on a 1995 91C Chevy Caprice for no reason. Sometime last year this person was stopped by a fellow forum member of his who also happened to be a law enforcement official. This person was arrested and released to his mommy and daddy for having a police scanner (illegal in their state) but not charged with impersonation. I guess at this time they were 17 years old.

Fast forward to this week. So this person pops up out of no where on another message board. Without notice or reason, they post pictures with their vehicle, before and after they removed their lighting and siren. This did this in a poor attempt to come out clean from their past. There were several problems with this though. The board they posted this on had no clue what was going on as this member was brand new to these forums. As with this type of post it became instant flame bait and links were posted to a few other forums showing this person talking about what they did wrong, getting flamed for it, then acting like a little kid in reaction to people making fun of him. They tried to use the defense that "3 months was a long time ago". 3 months is not a long time for a criminal behavior to just disappear. This person went back to his old forum and bragged on how his new "friends" said he did nothing wrong while going into a misspelling and cussing tirade. While boasting they "now they could outrun the pigs" in one forum, they are talking about how good the cops are in another. Also this person claimed to use their vehicle in the line of duty helping the DEA.

So in conclusion:

1. Buys retired cop car and puts lights/siren in it for the cool factor.

2. Goes to car related enthusiast forums and brags about being cool with their new setup.

3. Told by forum members that they are an idiot.

4. Gets flamed and ignores their warnings.

5. Gets in trouble for having police scanner (illegal in their state) and a stern warning for trying to look like a cop.

6. Takes equipment off of car to “come clean”.

7. Goes to a separate message board and tries to prove they “come clean”.

8. Runs back to their old forums and brags on how their new friends said they did nothing wrong.

Here are the links to the forums in which this person has posted.

Forum Thread #1

Forum Thread #2

Forum Thread #3

Forum Thread #4

Forum Thread #5

Forum Thread #6

Here are the pictures we could find. The first picture is of the vehicle after the imposter equipment has been removed. We couldn't find a "before" picture. Not much but gives you a general idea.

Picture #1

Picture #2

Picture #3

An email submission titled "How to tell someone is a (ff/ems/fire marshal) whacker".

Common for both fire and EMS

Sleeps in the stationWears multiple pagers

Talks on the radio more than a DJ does

Denies they are a hoople

Knows the plectron tones of every department in the state

Has a 50 million gigawatt blue light in his car

Backs his car in the driveway so he'll have a quicker response time

Personal vehicle resembles a Field-Comm unit due to all the antennas

Calls the County Comm Center and tells them how to dispatch

Responds to the scene even after all units have been returned

Personal vehicle is an ex-police car

Has at least one scanner in his possession at all times

Has a frequency guide that makes the NYC phone book look small

Firefighters

Always says "I was there, it sure was a hot one!"

Belt buckle is a fire truck

Knows how to do everything....but can't

Watched Backdraft 50 times

Claims to have had sex on the hosebed, just like in Backdraft

Thinks water poured on burning magnesium looks cool

Thinks holes in turnout gear looks macho

Paints in the maltese cross on their license plates

Is THE expert on which fire academy in the state is best

Thinks they are a shoe-in for lieutenant (captain, chief etc)

EMS/Rescue

Hangs their stethoscope on their rear-view mirror

Aruges with E.R. doctors

Pretends they are John Gage from 'Emergency'

Carry accessories on their belt that would make Batman jealous

Uses a 7 D-cell flashlight to check pupil response

Carries a window punch at all times

Pops doors without checking to see if they can be opened normally

Pops doors even if the vehicle is empty

Fire Marshalls

Wears his badge everywhere

Carries so many flares in his car, if it caught fire it would be nuclear

Knows nothing about traffic control

Argues with Chief about apparatus placement on the fireground

Thinks they can carry a gun if they want to

Knows all the cops....thinks he's pals with them.....NOT!

Some viewer questions and responding to guestbook hate-o-grams.

Are you against the private ownership of former police vehicles? It seems that you pick on and make fun of people who own them.

No, I am not against private ownership of police vehicles. The times I have talked about people owning them are those who try to use these vehicles to imitate police vehicles. There is a difference between the casual owner, volunteer fire fighter/ems, and someone who wants their vehicle to look like a police vehicle. Most times when volunteer fire fighters and EMS personnel reuse these vehicles with lights, they do it with respect to their law enforcement brethren and usually make the vehicles lower profile or take other steps to distance the look from a police cruiser. In the ten former police cruisers I have seen reused as a volunteer POV, none have been made to look like police cruisers.

looks like the maker of this site has WAY to much time on his hands…

This web site is more than opinions; it is actually a learning tool for web design and server administration for me. There are thousands of websites and blogs out there that cover topics that others shake their head at. These people have “way too much time on their hands” too. What is this world coming to?

I drive a 99 P71 and have lights, console, push-bar, and full deal. Don't use a dang one of them, I suppose I am something you hate, I equip emergency vehicles and use it as a demo car. However, while the car complies with State, Federal, and Local laws I get hassled by the leo's in my county, I am sure this will make you happy. Its your right to have this site, and its my right to have stuff even if I don't use it.

A true demo car is only used when it is needed for demonstrations, the reason they call them demo cars. If a demo car is your daily driver, then it is a personal vehicle. If you like driving a fully outfitted police like vehicle then you will get hassled. Business must not be that good for you if the local “leo’s” don’t recognize your car as a demo. Usually light installers are friends or known by their local law enforcement community. Also most true demo vehicles are clearly marked as such and strive NOT to have markings like law enforcement vehicles.

A visit from an old friend.

This is a rehash but a needed one. This same person is the one who blew up because we posted pictures of their CVPI (Crown Victoria Police Interceptor) that were submitted to our web site. They claimed it was used to "escort heavy or damaged trucks across town". Well this week this same person posted pictures of their newly acquired CVPI on a message board and posted pictures of before and after pictures. There were pictures of the car before it had the graphics removed and pictures after the graphics were removed except the unit number.

The pictures showed the vehicle with a push bumper, lights on the push bumper, mirror strobes, dash LED light, and rear deck lights. The vehicle still sported the unit numbers on the front fender and trunk lid from its former owner. They also stated that they use this vehicle for road side assistance and accident investigator. I replied to the thread calling them out on the issue since it was just too fishy for me.

For starters, if you are doing roadside assistance or accident investigation, why have more lights in the front than in the back? Also as a roadside assistance volunteer, why setup your lights like the police do? The last thing you want it someone thinking you are the police. As I said in the thread, if someone pulled behind me with that many amber/clear lights on a CVPI, I would be dialing the police ASAP. As a roadside assistance volunteer, if you really want to use lights then spend most of your resources on the rear of the vehicle rather than front bumper or mirror warning. An accident investigator usually doesn’t need warning lights at all. Most times these are vehicles that are marked with decals and sport little to no lighting. Also most times these vehicles are SUV’s or minivans due to the equipment they need to carry. This person also claimed they left the former unit numbers on their vehicle due to the fact that the roadside assistance group they are with also uses unit numbers. Although the group only had ten members, they left the number thirty one on the vehicle. Nothing like keeping the graphics on the vehicle like it’s former department used to have.

This person compared themselves to my last update on construction vehicles using amber lights. They claim they do the same type of work and even removed the light bar on their CVPI for a more low profile look. There are two major differences there. First, a F350 pick up truck with a single strobe and/or arrow stick looks nothing like a police vehicle. These vehicles usually have nothing to the front and maybe tail light strobes, and arrow stick/board to the rear to compliment their 360 degree strobe. Second, most of these vehicles are clearly marked somewhere on their body on what company they work for or their purpose. I am willing to bet you would see a different reaction if a construction vehicle pulled behind someone rather than a CVPI with push bar and lights installed in common with a lot of police departments.

Police vehicle collectors usually outfit their vehicles with period equipment from the era their vehicle was used for. Most of these vehicles also have lighting colors to mimic what the respected department had at the time the vehicle was used. Furthermore these vehicles are either taken to the car shows on a trailer/flatbed or driven there with their lights and decals covered up. Very rarely, if at all, will you see one of these vehicles used as a daily driver or for side jobs.

To light the candles on the cake we just made, here is a gem this person left my guest book on this web site.

hey rabidjade GO (admin edit) YOURSELF!!!! you started war now and its not going to be over for a while im sick of you stating that people who use amber lighting for road service or escorts it a police impersonator, YOUR A (admin edit)

No update this week, flu sucks.

Construction workers=Amber light whackers?

This week we go over an email I received recently:

So you think that all construction workers and legitimate amber light users are whackers too?

Short answer would be no. Amber lights are designed for a reason. That’s adding to the fact all lights have a purpose when proper installed and used. Roadside workers are encouraged to have proper lighting warning devices activated (if needed) as referenced in the FHWA MUTCD (Federal Highway Administration, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices).

Amber lights, as with any warning or emergency lights are tools. As with all tools, proper usage within reason will help people perform their task or job easier. To this point, I have never seen a road worker or construction worker abuse lighting. Lighting used by most construction companies is limited to one or two beacons and/or a traffic control device such as an arrow stick or arrow board. A standard construction vehicle has two zones of coverage at the max with the occasional exception depending on application.

With the above being said, I don’t find any problems with the above uses. Most times you see these vehicles only using their lights when needed and the lights are usually off when the vehicle is in motion. The lighting is minimal and usually doesn’t make the vehicle stand out when it is off.

Amber light whackers on the other hand strive to use lighting that will get them the most attention. Amber light whackers also use their lights when not needed, for their personal benefit. Also whackers will mount lights to attract the most attention while they are off, kind of like an advertisement of sorts (light bars, grill lights, dash and rear deck lights). So as you can see, there is a difference between the two.