A Sacramento County Sheriff Dodge Charger is taking social media by storm this week, not for entering into automotive chases or any sick jumps, however for exhibiting up a little bit bit exterior their jurisdiction — over 5,500 miles away in Poland.
Two movies going round social media appeared to indicate a sheriff’s patrol automotive from Sacramento County, California cruising across the streets of Gniezno, Poland. Apart from the European plates, the Dodge Charger patrol automotive appears legit, a lot in order that CBS Information reached out to Sacramento County Sheriff’s to search out out simply how the hell one in all its automobiles ended up in Europe. The division confirmed that the car isn’t from the fleet however surprisingly admitted that this isn’t the primary time one thing like this has occurred.
CBS13 took the video to sheriff’s spokesperson Sergeant Amar Gandhi who mentioned this isn’t the primary time they’ve seen this sort of video. The catch: It’s not an official county car.
“We first caught wind of this, I imply, years again and seems to be a number of hobbyists in Europe that like to gather American automobiles and repaint them, refinish them with police and legislation enforcement model finishes on there,” Gandhi mentioned. “And, fortunately, we’ve turn into fairly in style in a couple of international locations.”
Europeans have a proud custom of making small pockets of American automotive tradition. Consider folks in Finland’s rock-a-billy “Raggare” scene who favor previous Detroit scorching rods. The dedication is similar. Homeowners do them up with full police particulars which are so convincing, you’d assume that sheriff’s departments within the U.S. had been sending officers over to patrol. Passion web sites on-line provide homeowners with decals, stickers and symbols from departments from everywhere in the U.S., together with the Los Angeles Police Division and the New York Police Division.
Digging round on-line, you’ll discover out this neighborhood is fairly giant in components of continental Europe and the UK A few of these homeowners are so devoted they even go for obscure departments from components of the nation you most likely by no means knew existed. This Reddit submit from November 2024 reveals a Dodge Charger police automotive in Europe sporting Greenwood, Mississippi Police Division decals. A information article from Florida in 2021 highlighted an English automotive fanatic residing in Scotland who drives a ninth-generation Chevy Impala police automotive executed as much as appear to be a police cruiser from Sarasota, Florida. Even way back to almost a decade in the past this was occurring. A video from 2015 reveals somebody recognizing three Crown Victoria’s on the streets of London; one was executed as much as appear to be an NYPD cruiser and the opposite two have Texas State Trooper decals.
So what precisely makes these homeowners select these random liveries? It appears it comes down to private desire, because the proprietor of the Sarasota Impala, Caleb Keogh, defined to Patch.com:
“I cherished the colour scheme and the shade of blue getting used, and I assumed it was the right design to place my automotive into,” he mentioned. “That is how I adopted the Sarasota livery to my automotive, and whereas it’s not an ideal mirror picture (there are a couple of variations to the well-trained eye) I’ve tried to copy the livery as greatest as I can. Naturally, police departments don’t give out the graphic sizes, colours and patterns, so I prefer to assume it’s duplicate of what you will have and see in Sarasota, Florida.”
Keogh was additionally drawn to the small-town really feel of Sarasota.
“I spent a very long time looking for the right livery. Whereas there are departments who’re well-known, just like the New York police, who use the Impala, I actually needed one thing that may be distinctive and stand out,” he mentioned. “Sarasota PD was simply that, a sufficiently small division that folks from exterior America might not have heard about.”
As for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s, the division’s livery appears to be in style with Europeans as properly. Along with Poland, Sacramento County Sheriff Sergeant Amar Gandhi instructed CBS that sheriff’s automobiles have been noticed in Germany, England and Iceland. Whereas doing this sort of factor would land an American citizen in jail for attempting to impersonate a police officer, it’s not an issue for Europeans to do it. European hobbyists instructed CBS that so long as they don’t activate the lights and sirens on the automobiles the automobiles are completely authorized. Gandhi even appeared to indicate that Sacramento County Sheriffs are flattered by it.
“They’re very inventive, and once more, we prefer to see it. It’s not likely bothering us by any stretch. And once more, in case you’re viewing on the market, and also you see our automotive in some distinctive location. Please tell us. Tag us within the social media. We love seeing,” Gandhi instructed CBS.
