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Beware of the Marauders

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Posted by: eL eS

For those of oyu that live in the Tapa, St Pete, Clearwater and Sarasota area keep an eye out for the Mercury Marauder's. I have spotted several undercover cops in these areas recently. The colors vary, I have seen black, maroon and silver Marauders and they look totally stock. No external markings at all.

I would not have noticed them but they were doing roadside interviews. The windows were pretty dark and you could barely make out the lightbar inside the car becasue they were low profile type.

Posted by: Fordman

Hey Noah, Long time no talk to... My son found out...He got nailed on I4 in Plant City maroon Marauder. I've seen a few now. Hey if your not busy Saturday Night, come on out to downtown Plant City. We have a great show there every 3 Saturday of the month.... I get there about 4 P.M. it last's till about 9:00 P.M. I try to park by the train station. And no, you can't show your LS....

Posted by: eL eS

Hated. I was too late. Did your son say if it was FHP or HCSO? I couldn't tell as I went by the cars that were pulled over. I was wondering when they were going to find a new pursuit car.

I am planning on doing some flooring soon so not certain if I will be able to get away or not but on the chance that I can where exactally would I be going to, I have never been into plant city.

Posted by: MonsterMark

You can thank Dennis for that. He had a hand in that hoppin them up a little. What he should have done is put a wireless chip in it and given us the access code so we could hit the kill-switch whenever they gave one of us pursuit.

And trust me. These are the guys that will be tooling around 80-90 mph waiting for a guy to try and pass and then pull them over for doing what they were doing. It is all about entrapment now. Basturds.

Posted by: eL eS

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonsterMark

These are the guys that will be tooling around 80-90 mph waiting for a guy to try and pass and then pull them over for doing what they were doing. It is all about entrapment now. Basturds.

I agree it seems like they are baiting. Seems a blind eye is turned on the entrapment of folks today.

Posted by: JoeyLincolnMK8

thats for the heads up noah. usually i make trips to new port richey to see my parents, hope the marauder crew does not end up over here in orlando.

Posted by: eL eS

seems they have already hit as far east as Plant City along I4. It is really going to be tough to spot these cars due to the window tinting work. I think it is darker around the light bar becasue as I approached it seem as if I could see through the upper portion and along the drivers side windows so it looks really stock.

Posted by: sofl02ls

This is from the Miami Herald from Dec 2004

FHP'S `STEALTH' CARS AIM TO SLOW DOWN AGGRESSIVE DRIVERS

One of the best things Miami FHP Trooper Mike Transue's new car has going for it is that it looks like a lot of other cars you'd find in a condo parking lot.

The Florida Highway Patrol rolled out its newest weapon in the fight against aggressive driving Monday: 18 new ``stealth'' cars, high-performance Mercury Marauders. A third of them will be assigned to South Florida.

They are totally unmarked, even down to the regular-issue license plates. Their police lights are hidden behind the front grilles. They have chrome rims, and their windows are tinted, making it difficult to see the uniformed trooper inside.

Aggressive drivers ``are turning our highways into high-risk arenas,'' FHP chief Col. Chris Knight said. The department gets more complaints about aggressive driving - drivers who commit two or more moving violations simultaneously, such as speeding and weaving in and out of traffic - than any other subject. The department issued more than 700 citations in Broward and Palm Beach counties through Oct. 31 in an aggressive driving pilot program using three Marauders.

From July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2004, there were nearly 8,800 citations for aggressive driving statewide.

Even in heavy traffic, said Broward Trooper Gary Slayton, who has been in a pilot project with the Marauder, ``We are seeing drivers running 100, 110 miles an hour.'' They speed, recklessly darting in and out of lanes, tailgating, passing in the emergency lanes and flashing their lights at cars in front of them.

The Marauders were donated by a benefactor who wants to remain anonymous, FHP spokesman Maj. Ernesto Duarte said.

Assigning 18 troopers to the job is ``the largest effort at combating aggressive driving in the Florida Highway Patrol's history,'' added Kevin Guidry, an FHP bureau chief in charge of the program.

The cockpit of Transue's Marauder is packed with radios and other electronics.

Go screaming past him and you'll be picked up on high-definition digital video and on radar pointing both forward and backward. Inside the car there is an infrared camera, so it's no longer the trooper's word against the driver.

``When you have the camera, they can't dispute it,'' Transue said.

When Transue hits the gas, he'll catch up faster than ever. And when he hits the dual sirens, the noise is louder.

Speed from a modified 302-horsepower engine is important. Instead of Transue taking a mile to catch somebody, he said he might catch them in a quarter of a mile.

``The faster I can catch up to that person and get him stopped, the safer it is for everybody,'' he said.

The Marauder's power is not only under the hood; it's also in what it does in the mind of the miscreant. It creates a fear of the unknown.

``If they don't see you, they don't fear you, and they own the roadway,'' Broward FHP Trooper Tony Lee explained.

``Because it is a Marauder and there are more Marauders on the roadway now, you really don't know whether it is a police car or not, Lee said.''

Ten years ago, if a trooper caught one speeder a week going more than 100 mph, it was a big deal.

On a typical midnight shift, Transue said, he gets ``two, three cars a night doing 100 or more.'' One night not long ago, he caught a car going 146 mph.

``People who are driving aggressively are focused on only one thing, getting to where they are going no matter how they get there,'' Transue said.

The Florida Highway Patrol's new Mercury Marauder:

Maker: Ford

Cost: $40,000 each

Engine: Modified 302 HP

Top speed: 150 mph

Key feature: Accelerates from 60 mph to 100 mph in five to six seconds.

Special equipment: Digital and infrared video recording; front-and-back radar; chrome wheel covers; regular license plates, not standard FHP tags.

Number donated to the FHP: 18

Posted by: eL eS

Outstanding article thanks! At least we know how many to look out for

. Welcome to LvC as well.

Posted by: SurfjaxLS

I saw a few of those marauders on the way to and from sarasota last weekend. One had pulled someone over, and I realized that FHP is using undercover cars. If they want to go full undercover give some cops a nice rice rocket. That'll catch a lot of people off guard. Luckily I wasn't pulled over.

Posted by: Jamler3

Quote:

Originally Posted by sofl02ls

Key feature: Accelerates from 60 mph to 100 mph in five to six seconds.

I know I go from 60 to 100 at least a second or two faster than that!!
Catch Me Johnny "Marauder" Lawman!!! Yeeeee Haaaahhh!!

Posted by: evillally

Couple pics I've saved from CVU:

Mass State Police used Gen-II Mark VIII's back in the late-1990's for thei 3-D Team (an anti-Drunk, Drugged, and Dangerous Drivers undercover unit).

A friend of mine who knew I was a big Lincoln fan was telling me some years back that his uncle was travelling Eastbound on the Pike in Newton at about 100+ MPH when a dark and tinted Mark VIII came up on his tail real fast. His uncle's a real arrogant prick, so he flips the bird at the Mark and guns his Camaro at over 135+... surprise!, here come the blue lights, a $500+ criminal summons to appear, and a license suspension courtesy of MSP Troop B

Watch where you aim that finger!

Posted by: mespock

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamler3

I know I go from 60 to 100 at least a second or two faster than that!!
Catch Me Johnny "Marauder" Lawman!!! Yeeeee Haaaahhh!!

It's not the Marauder you need to worry about it's Motorola. Once your Mark VIII is faster than the speed of a radio wave then you have something fast LOL

Posted by: eL eS

Quote:

Originally Posted by evillally

Couple pics I've saved from CVU:

Mass State Police used Gen-II Mark VIII's back in the late-1990's for thei 3-D Team (an anti-Drunk, Drugged, and Dangerous Drivers undercover unit).

A friend of mine who knew I was a big Lincoln fan was telling me some years back that his uncle was travelling Eastbound on the Pike in Newton at about 100+ MPH when a dark and tinted Mark VIII came up on his tail real fast. His uncle's a real arrogant prick, so he flips the bird at the Mark and guns his Camaro at over 135+... surprise!, here come the blue lights, a $500+ criminal summons to appear, and a license suspension courtesy of MSP Troop B

Watch where you aim that finger!

Great story and pix thanks for stopping in.

Posted by: eL eS

Quote:

Originally Posted by mespock

It's not the Marauder you need to worry about it's Motorola. Once your Mark VIII is faster than the speed of a radio wave then you have something fast LOL

Funny I tell my over modded buddies this all the time. Can't be the speed and agility of the radio.

Posted by: bucketthead

nice article but i heard the number of mouraders state troopersfl was well over 50 for fl fhp from one of my cop freinds but ya that damn radio gets me everytime

Posted by: eL eS

I wonder if Ford donated the cars in order to get name recognition. No one really talked about them much before and lets face it folks get hyped up a lot more by what the cops are driving becasue their hardware is presumed to be the best.

Posted by: eL eS

Any FHP officers on LvC? I need to know if I can defeat a traffic ticket in court. I was clocked by the eyes in the sky.

Posted by: SurfjaxLS

Just don't argue that by timing back wheel to front wheel over whatever distance they time makes a 15 mph difference than back wheel to back wheel. I'm just glad this guy figured out he was wrong before arguing it in court.

Posted by: eL eS

Yeah does not sound like reasonable arguement to make without a some great math to baffle the hell out of the judge... then again you will be likely to loose if you talk over his/her head.

How things been going? You've graduated HS now right? Congratulations!

now is not the time to stop. What are your plans?

Posted by: SurfjaxLS

Damn, you probably have more memory than my computer right now. Ya, I gradutated last Saturday and will be going to UT Austin next fall. At least that means I have some grad money to spend on the LS.

Posted by: eL eS

Yeah the soupy mess I call a brain still has some value left. Glad to hear you have a plan, do not getr caught up in being a drunken partier while you are out there. Didn't you mention engineering as a major or do yuo have other aspirations?

Posted by: SurfjaxLS

Ya, engineering, possibly aerospace.

Posted by: eL eS

Quote:

Originally Posted by SurfjaxLS

Ya, engineering, possibly aerospace.

Ahh yeah that's right. Undoubtedly to be one of the best fields to get into as ar as employment prospects go and exciting to boot.

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