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My favorite Highway Patrol cruiser

OSP959(R)

Lightbar Collector
Forum Administrator
Retired Law Officer
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Around 1992-1993 I was an Ohio State Trooper assigned to Cleveland Post 18. It was an investigative (plain clothes) facility, but for a couple of years the patrol added a day and afternoon shift of uniformed troopers to patrol IS 480 at the request of the local police chiefs. We had 4 troopers and a sergeant assigned to each shift.

Our cruisers had push bumpers and a Whelen directional arrow in the rear window. They were also outfitted with MDT's that accessed the CRIS (Cuyahoga Regional Information System) system so we could run checks on people and vehicles.

We were the only patrol post in the state that had the push bumpers and traffic advisors in the rear window. I think the only other cars in the state to get MDTs were the drug interdiction cars.

Not only was it pretty cool to have a car that stood out from all of the other highway patrol cruisers in the state, driving this car in the heavily populated Cleveland area gave me the closest feeling of what it must be like to work for the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

Growing up I watched the "CHiPs" TV show. It's probably what lead me to pursue a career in law enforcement. Even though I became a State Trooper, I always admired the CHP. Those years in Cleveland were the closest I'd come to knowing what it would be like to drive a similarly equipped vehicle in a similar setting as CHP officers.

At one point I had to give my silver Crown Vic up for one of the new gray ones. I didn't like the new body style or the gray color, so I traded it to another Trooper and took his silver cruiser. That idea was short lived. When it came time to get the MDT's the state didn't want to install one in an older car just to have to take it back out and put it in a new one, so I had no choice but to take a new gray car.

Below is a picture I took of one of the gray cars used on IS 480 with the push bumpers. Airforce 2 is in the background. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore was in town at the same time, so we had had our hands full that day.

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It seems like a lifetime ago. At the time Post 18 was basically it's own district. It was being ran by a Staff Lieutenant, Lieutenant, a couple Sergeants and some Troopers. All plain clothes. The S/Lieutenant really knew how to take care of his people.

I once had to send my cruiser in for service and was trying to figure out how I was going to get a ride home. The S/Lieutenant overheard the discussion and gave me the keys to his unmarked unit, and had the Lieutenant drive him home. I don't remember what color his car was, but it wasn't silver or gray. It didn't scream unmarked police car, but it was. I jumped on the interstate and had to quickly remind myself I was in an unmarked unit so I didn't get stopped by the local police.

To this day it still impresses me that the S/Lieutenant gave me his unmarked unit to take home. I never saw anything like that before or since.

If I was writing a book, I could write a whole chapter just on IS 480.

The S/Lieutenant retired and was elected sheriff in a neighboring county. Things started falling apart after that. I transferred out before the project was shut down. Many years later it was started back up, but eight of us (hmmm.... Super 8, Magnificient 8...LOL...J/K) are the early pioneers that paved the way for the troopers there to day.

If I could go back and relive some moments in my career, IS 480 would definitely be one of them.

What about you? Do you have a favorite patrol from your career and a story that goes with it?
 
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