A Sacramento County Sheriff Dodge Charger is taking social media by storm this week, not for moving into automotive chases or any sick jumps, however for displaying up a bit bit outdoors 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. Other than 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 certainly one 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 sort 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 develop into fairly widespread in a number 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 previous Detroit sizzling rods. The dedication is identical. Homeowners do them up with full police particulars which are so convincing, you’d assume that sheriff’s departments within the U.S. have been sending officers over to patrol. Pastime web sites on-line provide house owners 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 giant in elements of continental Europe and the UK A few of these house owners 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 exhibits 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 finished as much as seem like a police cruiser from Sarasota, Florida. Even way back to almost a decade in the past this was happening. A video from 2015 exhibits somebody recognizing three Crown Victoria’s on the streets of London; one was finished as much as seem like an NYPD cruiser and the opposite two have Texas State Trooper decals.
So what precisely makes these house owners select these random liveries? It appears it comes down to private choice, because the proprietor of the Sarasota Impala, Caleb Keogh, defined to Patch.com:
“I liked the colour scheme and the shade of blue getting used, and I believed it was the proper 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 number of variations to the well-trained eye) I’ve tried to copy the livery as finest as I can. Naturally, police departments don’t give out the graphic sizes, colours and patterns, so I prefer to assume it’s a great 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 proper 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 individuals from outdoors America could not have heard about.”
As for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s, the division’s livery appears to be widespread with Europeans as properly. Along with Poland, Sacramento County Sheriff Sergeant Amar Gandhi advised CBS that sheriff’s autos 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 advised 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 suggest that Sacramento County Sheriffs are flattered by it.
“They’re very inventive, and once more, we prefer to see it. It’s probably not bothering us by any stretch. And once more, if you happen to’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 advised CBS.
