Studies On Squad Cars

I got in a habit of noting vehicles that were evidently connected to the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement (JADE) Task Force. Included were JADE officers’ and the unmarked rides of other policemen, plus those that may or may not have belonged to informants. Obviously, with the Task Force revolving around law enforcement activities, marked cruisers were part of the equation, too.

Keeping track of patrol cars didn’t appear useful at the start but sometimes the seemingly insignificant will end up insightful. So I diligently, albeit unenthusiastically, took down their tags and photographed them, and after a while, much to my delight, noticed patterns emerging.

Some only dropped persons off, some only picked items up. Some were SWAT, some were Sheriffs. Some frequently appeared, some were a one time only deal.

The prowlers became a game within a game to me.

I got to the point where I could successfully determine what was going on with JADE, or predict what JADE had in store for later, based on particulars relating to any given patrol car and its passengers.

These days I can’t go near enough to the Task Force building to play like I used to but nothing prevents me from executing Squad Car Analysis.

Oh yeah, did I mention it’s a fabulous cold weather activity?