Black and White-Ford

[EDJ]

I am the Chief of well...a one man department. There is a strong possibility that tomorrow night my council decides to allow me a new squad. Here's what I know for sure. I'm going Ford, Crown Vic PI, and I'm going Black and White. So there is no arguing those two points. OOH yeah and no light bar.

In doing some looking at graphics ideas, I thought it might be really neat to do the graphics in a real old school, vintage look 1950's. Not only to pay respect to the old timers but....well...it might look really cool.

I may be moving really soon on this idea if it gets approved tomorrow night. So if you have the time and feel like taking a look and helping me on my process great.

Please feel free to either post pictures, links, ideas etc...

Thanks in advance.

[cjs-luke]

I really the full door badge of the Mpls and MSP cars. I know there are lot's out there so I just took the top three biggest depts in mn.







Personally I like the State Patrol the best with the single white door as apposed to the dual white doors.





If I recall right the State Patrol still orders their cars full maroon and then has a white full door decal placed on the doors. Saves on money.........

Here is another one door one, note the white top though.....



One thing I like about both the OPP and MSP is that over the front tires they have real old school decals, either "STATE TROOPER" or "POLICE" which is nice and basic and looks sweet too.

Do you have an outfitter picked out already for the lights and such?

[phillydog07]

I like the MPLS squads with the big badge combined with the paint scheme of saint paul.

You can check out this site: http://policecararchives.org/

[squad51]

I know of cops who got hired in small towns at 21, 22 and a few years later were the chief...simple is always better when its comes to squad graphics, less is always more.

[Boogaard24]

I saw this Stillwater squad car at Michael Wilken's funeral. I don't know if all their squad cars are like this.

[Matthew5:9]

EDJ - see e-mail!

[MNsquad]

I like MPD and the Saint Anthony squads. St. Anthony has one white door on each side with the badge and police on the door. Looks real sharp. The Stillwater squad looks like an art project.

[mtxpro752]

Can't go wrong with the LAPD paint scheme if looking to go old school with it.



Blk and wht, city seal on the doors, small gold lettering "POLICE and a shop #, NOTHING ELSE. No sparkly reflective stickers, no GIANT POLICE written in bold all over the car.

People know what a police car is without writing it all over the place in multi-color.
An older "hybrid" or slick-top as most people know it

[HEDP]

I saw this Stillwater squad car at Michael Wilken's funeral. I don't know if all their squad cars are like this.

Although I think that is really cool, it sort of looks too artsy and un-professional.

.

[Topace44]

Yes, Stillwater PD's entire marked fleet is done like this.

I agree that simple badge or shoulder patch and the words "police" sum it up very well. There are some state statutes regarding the marking of police cars, mainly that the agency the squad is part of is required to be on the trunk lid in at least 1 inch lettering that you will have to consult to ensure compliance.

If you decide to place the deartments badge or shoulder patch on the car, spend a little bit of money for the one-time fee to have it professionally done and don't just try to blow it up on your home PC; it will look like crap. A local college or high school should have some graphic design software avalible to use for nominal fee and you can have the graphics printed locally; or you can send the .jpeg out to a company who will re-create it to look very sharp.

[BD0883]

I know of cops who got hired in small towns at 21, 22 and a few years later were the chief...simple is always better when its comes to squad graphics, less is always more.

+1. In the outlying areas, it really isn't that uncommon.

[BD0883]

I like the MPLS squads with the big badge combined with the paint scheme of saint paul.

You can check out this site: http://policecararchives.org/

That is a cool site. Thanks for the link!

[Ten10]

These guys are out of Eagan...they do quite a few local PD's packages.

http://www.grafixshoppe.com/PublicSafety.asp

I'm also a huge fan of the less is more when it comes to squad graphics. Minneapolis and Bloomington have good looking squads...

[Medici]

Dayton Police Department (Minnesota) has the look you are looking for. Call them and talk to Chief Peitezak?.

They have an nice looking black and white with no light bar. One of thier officers set it up.

[szpanky]

We ordered our CVPI's with the CHP paint.

The graphics were around $350 from Graffix Shoppe