Tweet
Well folks - since Geek Squad is a Minnesota Based company and by now most have seen the black & white VW Bugs look like (at least here in the Twin Cities)......apparently California Highway Patrol doesn't like it......my question is what fool on the roadway will actually think that a Geek Squad VW Bug is an actual police car??? If people do start thinking that I think it's time to take their license and give'm a bus schedule.
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune
"CHiPs are down on Geek Squad's cars
Chris Serres, Star Tribune
August 27, 2005
With their black slacks, starched white shirts and flashy badges, members of the Geek Squad look as if they walked off the set of the 1960s cop show "Dragnet."
But one law enforcement agency thinks the computer troubleshooting service has carried this police motif too far.
The California Highway Patrol says the Geek Squad's black-and-white Volkswagen Beetles, dubbed "Geekmobiles," look too much like patrol cars and could present a safety hazard. They're serious; patrol officers ticketed a "geek" in Walnut Creek, Calif., a Bay Area suburb.
Geek Squad founder Robert Stephens does not agree with that assessment. But to avoid future run-ins with the law, Stephens said he has reluctantly agreed to repaint the doors of all 150 "Geekmobiles" in California to black.
A safety hazard?Dino VournasAssociated Press"Haven't geeks been picked on enough already?" implored Stephens, who designed the original Geekmobile. "We've always tried to pay homage, through our uniforms and our general demeanor, to law enforcement. And now this. ... It's insulting because it's a complete waste of time."
Stephens launched the Geek Squad in 1994 as a 24-hour computer support service to businesses and residential customers. Best Buy Co. of Richfield bought the company in 2000 and pumped up the squad by hiring thousands of technicians. The Geek Squad now has 8,500 agents nationwide and plans to add 3,500 more.
From the beginning, the company patterned itself after a police squad. All Geek Squad staffers refer to themselves as "agents" or, in the case of computer troubleshooters who make house calls, "double agents." Best Buy stores that employ agents are known as "precincts."
It wasn't until earlier this year that computer technicians began getting pulled over by Highway Patrol officers. Officials said the Volkswagen Beetle's black-and-white color scheme was nearly identical to that of their Ford Crown Victorias.
"The concern here is that someone sees a black-and-white car in a rearview mirror, dives for the shoulder [of the road] or makes a lane change too quickly, thinking that a police officer is there," said Wayne Ziese, sergeant with the Golden Gate division of the California Highway Patrol.
Added Lt. Joe Whiteford of the California Highway Patrol's office of public affairs in Sacramento: "If we let Geek Squad mobiles look like cop cars, then another company will want to do it. Before you know it, you'll have black and white all over the place."
Stephens said he considered this a stretch. Seen from a rearview mirror, a Geekmobile is solid black and does not have lights on its roof like a patrol car, he noted. "I would be concerned about the mental state of anyone who did confuse [a Geekmobile] with a highway patrol car," Stephens said.
So far, California is the only state that has taken issue with the cars. In Minnesota, it's a moot issue because patrol officers drive maroon sedans and the agency does not care whether regular civilians also have maroon cars.
"It's interesting that the land of bundled-up Norwegians is more liberal on this issue than California," said Sean McDermott, a public information officer for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which oversees this state's highway patrol. "The Geek Squad is just fine with us."
Luke Steiner, a local agent with the Geek Squad, said he was pulled over only once by a Minnesota cop -- in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in Maple Grove -- but not because of his car. The officer wanted advice on how he could speed up the hard drive on his home computer.
"We get people rolling down their windows on highways trying to yell questions at us," Steiner said.
"The next time the California Highway Patrol has a computer problem," warned Stephens, "we'll remind them about the paint job."
Geek Squad "Response Vehicle"
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune
"CHiPs are down on Geek Squad's cars
Chris Serres, Star Tribune
August 27, 2005
With their black slacks, starched white shirts and flashy badges, members of the Geek Squad look as if they walked off the set of the 1960s cop show "Dragnet."
But one law enforcement agency thinks the computer troubleshooting service has carried this police motif too far.
The California Highway Patrol says the Geek Squad's black-and-white Volkswagen Beetles, dubbed "Geekmobiles," look too much like patrol cars and could present a safety hazard. They're serious; patrol officers ticketed a "geek" in Walnut Creek, Calif., a Bay Area suburb.
Geek Squad founder Robert Stephens does not agree with that assessment. But to avoid future run-ins with the law, Stephens said he has reluctantly agreed to repaint the doors of all 150 "Geekmobiles" in California to black.
A safety hazard?Dino VournasAssociated Press"Haven't geeks been picked on enough already?" implored Stephens, who designed the original Geekmobile. "We've always tried to pay homage, through our uniforms and our general demeanor, to law enforcement. And now this. ... It's insulting because it's a complete waste of time."
Stephens launched the Geek Squad in 1994 as a 24-hour computer support service to businesses and residential customers. Best Buy Co. of Richfield bought the company in 2000 and pumped up the squad by hiring thousands of technicians. The Geek Squad now has 8,500 agents nationwide and plans to add 3,500 more.
From the beginning, the company patterned itself after a police squad. All Geek Squad staffers refer to themselves as "agents" or, in the case of computer troubleshooters who make house calls, "double agents." Best Buy stores that employ agents are known as "precincts."
It wasn't until earlier this year that computer technicians began getting pulled over by Highway Patrol officers. Officials said the Volkswagen Beetle's black-and-white color scheme was nearly identical to that of their Ford Crown Victorias.
"The concern here is that someone sees a black-and-white car in a rearview mirror, dives for the shoulder [of the road] or makes a lane change too quickly, thinking that a police officer is there," said Wayne Ziese, sergeant with the Golden Gate division of the California Highway Patrol.
Added Lt. Joe Whiteford of the California Highway Patrol's office of public affairs in Sacramento: "If we let Geek Squad mobiles look like cop cars, then another company will want to do it. Before you know it, you'll have black and white all over the place."
Stephens said he considered this a stretch. Seen from a rearview mirror, a Geekmobile is solid black and does not have lights on its roof like a patrol car, he noted. "I would be concerned about the mental state of anyone who did confuse [a Geekmobile] with a highway patrol car," Stephens said.
So far, California is the only state that has taken issue with the cars. In Minnesota, it's a moot issue because patrol officers drive maroon sedans and the agency does not care whether regular civilians also have maroon cars.
"It's interesting that the land of bundled-up Norwegians is more liberal on this issue than California," said Sean McDermott, a public information officer for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which oversees this state's highway patrol. "The Geek Squad is just fine with us."
Luke Steiner, a local agent with the Geek Squad, said he was pulled over only once by a Minnesota cop -- in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in Maple Grove -- but not because of his car. The officer wanted advice on how he could speed up the hard drive on his home computer.
"We get people rolling down their windows on highways trying to yell questions at us," Steiner said.
"The next time the California Highway Patrol has a computer problem," warned Stephens, "we'll remind them about the paint job."
Geek Squad "Response Vehicle"
Comment