Car With police scanner inside with normal plates?

So, in florida, at my buddies place were bringing shit down stair into his car, just boxes of clothes ect from his aprtment. He grows and im helping him move some garbage back to his moms house. Anyways, this guy is pulled out of the parking spot and pulled along the curb in the complex right where were loading boxes. Hes wearing sunglasses and is just waiting their with his car running watching us and looking forward. anyways after 10 minuts of going upstairs and back down to laod shit they guy is still their, car runnignw atching us. My buddies a little nervouse now since the cars a crown vic and we can't see the plates to see if its a unmarked squad car with plates. So I see a large GPS in his car and go over and Im like hey, What kinda gps holster you using? I have one and need to get a new holder and was wondering if that ones pretty durable? as I lean a little bit into the window to look at it I see all this scanner and black boxes almost size of VCR and a corded walkie talki thing attached to all this equipment like a under cover cop would have. My heart starts racing so what ever he said after I asked about the GPS and then saw the scanner and boxes and police shit I don't hear a word he says and Im like thanks, bye. I tell my buddie and when we come back down the guy is just starting to drive away and his plates are NORMAL florida plates. How fucking weird is that..


I want to know why and who would have scanners and police radio dispatch things in theri car with normal plates as If this was a detective or something wouldent they have to have their plates indicating their police..... the car had no back seat screen for detaining criminals from reaching the driver and he did not have the laptop like other cops have, just seemed like a detective tho and he had all the scanner equipment and the corded radio talking thing police use to talk into to other deputies over the air ect but thew car outside and inside looked normal and he was plain clothes with sunglasses on..... WHO THE FUCK WAS THIS GUY and what group/law enforcment/detectives have normal plated cars with all theuir police scanner shit and spy crap lol.

Someone trying to stay one step ahead....a grower perhaps?

It could be absolutley NOTHING, just some lonely asshole, that has nothing better to do then listen to police scanners to see some "action"...

It could be a news reporter, that waits for "jobs" to come across the police scanner....

....OR! ....Its an under-cover po-po putting in work.....

You should of kept your cool, since you were already talking to him, and played dumb, and asked what all that shit is for.... In my area, under covers drive all kinds of vehicles, and they do NOT have government tags......I used to live in Florida, Hillsborough County, Tampa area....and i think you already know how they roll down there....The under covers drive whatever they seize from "criminals", wether its a Corvette or a Hummer....or even a Crown Vic.... Your friend has some work to do,...Some counter serveillance.....and he needs to do that now, like yesterday....

Good luck, and don't slip, but don't freak out till you get some more info....

Car With police scanner inside with normal plates?

Cops in Fl use tags from anywhere on anything.. If you ever catch a UC in his issued car with the state or county tag you'll notice some Velcro strips on the yellow tag.. You can bet ur ass that he has a few normal tags in the trunk to throw on.

Could be a neighborhood cop seeing what's new to the area(ur buddy) or a reporter who knows.. Ur buddy just has to watch his tracks an do some of his own watching

Forgot to mention.. Fl units ride around in whatever they want.. From Brand new minivans, suv's on 6's even. To nice luxury n sports car. Sometimes you won't know it till they flip them visors down and give u a light show

i do know reporters often have gps and police scanners in their cars, they do it so they can be first at the scene to get the exclusive story....

but i would have asked him what all that gear was for....too late now

Yea that does sound pretty sketchy, crown vic+scanners+ dude in shades is usually a bad thing. stay safe.

In Florida the undercovers use any tags they want, I was riding in my buddies truck a few years back leaving a job site, and this guy in a lincoln town car with NY plates was in front driving real slow, so my buddy starts tailgating him and flicking the bird, the dude switches lanes drops back and threw on the lights, fucker was a detective he wrote my buddy a ticket.

4 kinds of people have scanners in their car:

COPS
Creepy cop-wanna-be's
reporters
Bounty Hunters or private investigators

If I had to guess, I'd say it was a cop. Detectives often rely on GPS units to find their way to an address.

The type of license plate doesn't matter. Secret police cars use civilian license plates.

Sometimes uniformed police officers can take an unmarked car and patrol in plainclothes (they usually need prior approval from their supervisor and they can only roll unmarked for a limited time). take a mental snapshot of the guy you saw and try to see him match up with the police officers who patrol the area. You can find the number of the patrol car who is assigned to your area on the police department's website, usually. When you see them drive by do a mental comparison.

Detectives are the other way around: they usually patrol in plainclothes and only wear a uniform and drive a marked car on special occasions. You may be able to browse the police department's website for pictures of their staff. See if there is a match with the guy you saw.


Another giveaway is the actual model of the car. Civilians drive Crown Victorias. Police drive Police Interceptors. It says so right on the name badge on the rear of the car.

You can also tell an unmarked police car if the front grill is all black. Sometimes you may be able to see recessed red and blue lights inside the grill.

The hubcaps are another giveaway. Is there no hubcap, just the chrome of the spindle? If the rest of the wheel black? That's probably a cop car.

Also look for microwave antennas on the roof or trunk of the car. They are wires 6-8" tall. Cops sometimes use those for communications.

Even if it was a cop, he may not have been watching you guys. Maybe there is someone else he is looking for.

If it were me, I would shut down everything for a month or two at the least. For a year, ideally.

krustytheclown said:

4 kinds of people have scanners in their car:

COPS
Creepy cop-wanna-be's
reporters
Bounty Hunters or private investigators

.

Click to expand...

Don't forget criminals wanting to know where the cops are.....

The weirdest undercover cars I've seen are camrys and old early 90's mustangs.

Whats the point of using a crown vic if everyone takes a shit when they see one anyways, marked or not.

He wasn't a HAM radio user, was he? Some people just don't like to pay the man to talk to each other...

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was a skinnier guy, short ass hair, shades, police scanner shit, southern accent. He had a FAT GPS on his dash, fatter than normal ones you see in cars. I dunno, was just wierd. I did have a detective come to my buddies apartment asking about the person that lived across from me, asking how long he has lived their ect..... Could have been a detective woman smelling or seeing if she could get a whiff of a grow? she was a detective or investigator or something.... my question is, will thye waist their resorce for very long trying to bust small potatoes on some one whos not even dealing, or will they want to go after large fish to fry. How long do they wast time and money into shit liek this before they give up. My buddy works a normal job every day, dosent go anywhere often and has the few friends come to his apartment 1nce a week, he has a wife also. I can't imagine them wasting time for very long if some one hinted shit off. He did order a grow tent a while back that was never put in a stealth box and said grow tent in big letters and the maintenece guy he think might have saw a tent a while back in his bedroom for a breif second entering the aprtment unexpectedly while he was sleeping and he slammed the door before he could see it for very long or walk into the room. usps tip off? anyways. But all aside, how long will they look into this shit before there like "hes not selling or do anything must have been a mistake or is truely a waste of time" Im sure there are many ore weed growers MUCH bigger than him
that htey could monitor and bust.

TurboDog said:

was a skinnier guy, short ass hair, shades, police scanner shit, southern accent. He had a FAT GOS on his dash, fatter than normal ones you see in cars. I dunno, was just wierd. I did have a detective come to my buddies apartment asking about the person that lived across from me, asking how long he has lived their ect..... Could have been a detective woman smelling or seeing if she could get a whiff of a grow? she was a detective or investigator or something.... my question is, will thye waist their resorce for very long trying to bust small potatoes on some one whos not even dealing, or will they want to go after large fish to fry. How long do they wast time and money into shit liek this before they give up. My buddy works a normal job every day, dosent go anywhere often and has the few friends come to his apartment 1nce a week, he has a wife also.

Click to expand...

That would further the theory of the guy you saw being a cop.

Whether the detective was doing a "knock and talk" or not is up in the air. I think it was. That seems like a stupid question for a detective to ask him. They can call the landlord and find out themselves in one phone call from the most reliable source available, not counting the person they may be investigating.

IIRC, you said you are in Florida. From what I hear, LEO is rather aggressive over there. It sounds to me like your buddy is on their radar, regardless of the size of your grow.

Again, I recommend he does NOTHING with growing for 1 year.

Not a month.

Not a few months.

Not 6 months.

One year.

Given the choice of taking his chances and getting charged with a felony versus having to buy weed for a year seems like a no-brainer.

One could even argue he stops buying pot. In the off chance he keeps weed in the house and he ends up getting raided, if he has any weed in the house, they can still charge him with all kinds of stuff:

Weed+grow equipment (whether it is being used or not)= maintaining a residence for the manufacture of a controlled substance. Manufacture of a controlled substance.

Weed+baggies or a food/postage scale= possession with intent to distribute. Regardless of the amount of weed and regardless of the location of the baggies or scale relative to weed in the apartment.

Weed+guns= uhhh...really bad shit. Florida has the 10/20/30 sentencing guidelines.

Weed+1000' near a school, school bus stop or daycare facility= possession of a controlled substance near a school (which may also be a federal offense)

And don't forget asset forfeiture. They will take all his cash and his car if they even THINK he used his car in the commission of any crimes they charge him with. Probably his computer, cell phone and camera, too.

yea, I wonder how long they will investigate a small potatoes shit tho when they could bust way better shit. Got any ideas or know any 1 that would be able to tell any of you guys how long they would spend spying and snooping on a small closet grow they might suspect but find no questionable behavior on the person there investigating? no prior criminal record, 1 speeding ticket, looks clean cut, dosent go alot of places, works a 40 hour a week job.... How long would they waste "investigating" a person of this statue...

TurboDog said:

yea, I wonder how long they will investigate a small potatoes shit tho when they could bust way better shit

Click to expand...

I can't even count how many news reports I've read of them doing that. Last week the police department in my city busted in the door, automatic rifles at the ready, for a med grower with two plants who never sold anything, because a neighbor smelled pot once.

The cops are evidently either not too good at telling who is big time and who is strictly personal, or they simply don't care.

What's your/his tolerance for risk? Seems like this should have been thoroughly evaluated from the start. Looking on the forums for assurances that "it's probably nothing" isn't your best move, in my opinion. Who cares what a bunch of strangers think, who weren't there and didn't see what you saw, if it's your freedom on the line?

Either decide to take the risk and keep going, or bust it all down and play it safe. Decide today, right now. The Internet is not a magic bullet, man.

.

I have to agree with mugenbao. All a grower is to Law Enforcement is another dangerous criminal that needs to be locked up, no matter how much mj you have, or how small the op is. Besides, they get all kinds of funding for the war on drugs. Lay low.

i been stuck in the back of a crown vic with no middle divider going to holding on some shit non grow related.

i seen a UC chasing down a suspect with 10 police cars. UC had a fuckin '95 thunderbird!

heres what you want to hear:

He is small potatoes, cops will figure that out and give up. If they do bust him, they will say awww how cute, he has 3 plants, and let him go.


Feel better?


Now for the hard truth and what I think you came here for.

If that is a cop looking into him, he needs to close up NOW. Commercial growers have a very tough time closing shop, as their primary income comes from growing. Alot of time and money is lost when shutting down a grow for security risks. BUT your buddy seems to be a personal grow growing in a closet. This is for personal smoke, maybe a few extra $$$. He needs to SHUT DOWN now.

Cops dont give a fuck how large or how small he is. They wont know for sure till they bust him, maybe get him to roll on someone else, etc.

Heres a question. Would monitoring of your ip address be part of the spying process. What are the chances there watching his internet activity. Please, I need a legit answer not a guess.