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 displaying 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. Except for the European plates, the Dodge Charger patrol automotive seems to be 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 every of its autos ended up in Europe. The division confirmed that the automobile 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 type of video. The catch: It’s not an official county automobile.
“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 regulation enforcement type finishes on there,” Gandhi mentioned. “And, fortunately, we’ve turn out to be fairly common in a couple of nations.”
Europeans have a proud custom of making small pockets of American automotive tradition. Consider people in Finland’s rock-a-billy “Raggare” scene who favor outdated Detroit scorching rods. The dedication is identical. Homeowners do them up with full police particulars which might be so convincing, you’d assume that sheriff’s departments within the U.S. have been sending officers over to patrol. Interest web sites on-line provide homeowners with decals, stickers and logos from departments from all around 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 group is fairly massive in elements of continental Europe and the UK A few of these homeowners are so devoted they even go for obscure departments from elements of the nation you in all probability by no means knew existed. This Reddit put up 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 dwelling in Scotland who drives a ninth-generation Chevy Impala police automotive carried out as much as seem like 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 carried out as much as seem like 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 non-public 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 believed 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 duplicate the livery as finest as I can. Naturally, police departments don’t give out the graphic sizes, colours and patterns, so I wish to assume it’s a very good reproduction of what you’ve gotten 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 wished one thing that might be distinctive and stand out,” he mentioned. “Sarasota PD was simply that, a sufficiently small division that individuals from exterior America could not have heard about.”
As for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s, the division’s livery appears to be common with Europeans as properly. Along with Poland, Sacramento County Sheriff Sergeant Amar Gandhi informed CBS that sheriff’s autos have been noticed in Germany, England and Iceland. Whereas doing this type of factor would land an American citizen in jail for making an attempt to impersonate a police officer, it’s not an issue for Europeans to do it. European hobbyists informed CBS that so long as they don’t activate the lights and sirens on the automobiles the autos are completely authorized. Gandhi even appeared to indicate that Sacramento County Sheriffs are flattered by it.
“They’re very artistic, and once more, we wish to see it. It’s probably not bothering us by any stretch. And once more, for those who’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 informed CBS.
