New slick tops doing job
State police catch drivers unawares
BY MARK BOWES
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER    Oct 11, 2001
   
As one of the first state troopers to be issued a "slick top" cruiser, Officer Jamie Rose says the public seems to be more curious about the type of car he's driving than they are troubled by its stealth-like design.
"I haven't stopped anybody that's even commented about it," said Rose, a four-year veteran who patrols interstates 95 and 64 in the Richmond area.
That might seem strange, considering the vehicle has no emergency lights or antennae mounted on top, nor identifying markings on its hood or trunk. It does have the familiar Virginia State Police logo on its side doors and front fenders, and the image of a police badge on its license plate.
But those who've noticed have stopped him to ask about the sleek, semimarked police car with camouflaged blue strobe lights.
"If I'm in an area or at an intersection with a stoplight, I'll have people pull up beside me and they'll roll down their window and ask me what kind of car it is," said Rose, who has handed out 110 traffic citations - about half for speeding - in the three weeks he's had the vehicle.
One man thought Rose was driving a new Mustang. "He said, 'Wow! I like those. How much do they cost?'"
The vehicle is obviously different.
Aside from its furtive profile, it does have the recognizable radio antennae - four in all - positioned on the rear trunk lid. But the car's flashing emergency lights are hidden in its two side mirrors and high inside the passenger compartment, both front and rear.
Rose is one of two Richmond area troopers who were recently issued the slick-top Chevrolet Impalas, a new state police vehicle designed to move more stealthily among traffic on Virginia's interstates.
In recent weeks, the Virginia Department of State Police has put eight more of the slick tops on the road, after the initial two cars went into service on a trial basis along Interstate 81 in Staunton and Wytheville.
In addition to those and the two in the Richmond area, troopers are now driving slick tops along interstates in Pulaski County, Emporia, Lexington, Clifton Forge, Prince William County and Fairfax, said Wayne Cosner, state police garage manager.
In coming weeks, seven more slick tops will be operating in Chesterfield County, Fredericksburg, Warrenton, Harrisonburg, Bristol, Waverly and Winchester, Cosner said.
"We've identified 17 areas of interstate where we would use those cars," he said.
Earlier this year, state police Superintendent W. Gerald Massengill decided to try the slick-top concept as a means to slow motorists down and improve highway safety. If deemed successful, Massengill said, more of the vehicles may be added to the department's fleet.
Other state police and highway patrol agencies in the country have been using similar vehicles for some time. In South Carolina, for example, more than a third of that state's highway patrol vehicles are slick tops, according to a state spokeswoman.
In an earlier interview, Massengill suggested the slick tops should especially help police curb the speed of commercial vehicles - particularly truck drivers - who usually are more attentive to troopers' movements and the cars they drive. Many keep watch for the distinctive profile of a trooper's blue-and-gray patrol car, with its emergency light bar mounted on top.
Since news of the slick tops became public in August, Lt. Col. Donald R. Martin said the department is "comfortable" with the feedback it has received, which he described as minimal.
Some members of the driving public, however, believe the use of such vehicles is inappropriate and gives police an unfair advantage. In August, several motorists contacted The Times-Dispatch to express their disapproval, saying all police vehicles used for traffic enforcement should be clearly marked.
The slick tops can give police an edge.
"I know that I've taken a couple of people by surprise because they've passed right by me," Rose said. "It's kind of hard to believe because the license plate still has a big badge on it."
Rose recalled one recent incident as he was driving south on I-95 toward Chester.
"I had a pickup truck that more or less passed me like I was sitting still," Rose said. "And then a car length's behind him, there was another car that did the same thing. And without [them] realizing who I was, I got behind the second vehicle and they were both traveling at about the same speed. I paced both of them at 75 or 76 mph."
"And I ended up stopping them both."
Rose said he asked both motorists if they had seen the side of his police car when they passed him, "and they said they never did."
"It's working," Rose said of the slick tops.