The weird cop cars of IACP

This week, police from across the world gathered in Chicago for the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference, essentially CES for weird law enforcement tech. And since cops love weird cars too, that included a number of interesting, exotic and downright bizarre vehicles, from these Forza electric scooters to a pair of gyrocopters that are apparently being used to patrol Somerset County, Kentucky.

Of course, like a lot of car shows, there's a strong element of aspiration to the whole thing. Most police departments can't afford emission-detecting Teslas, and when it comes time to replace their fleet, they'll opt with the same solid black-and-white Fords and Dodges you see everywhere. But thanks to IACP, if they decide to get an electric post-Segway or a 30-foot mobile command center, they'll know exactly who to call. We can always dream....

Grid View

• This trike is from BRP, which had a number of ATV-like police vehicles at the show.
• Xtreme Green Products is an all-electric police equipment company based in Las Vegas. Their IACP tagline was (I kid you not) "our black and whites are green all over."
• There's nothing like an all-electric sports car for your local police force.
• The biggest helicopter at the show was the Airbus H125, on loan from the Mississippi highway patrol.
• Bell's helicopter comes with an onboard heat camera in front. (Note the battery, disguised by ferns.)
• The heat camera feeds straight to a monitor in the cockpit.
• Both Harley Davidson and BMW had bikes at the show, specifically marketed to highway patrols.
• These two gyrocopters are actually in current use by rural police departments, thanks to a pilot program by the Department of Justice. The idea is to see if the copters can work as a cheaper kind of air support for smaller departments.
• The cockpit of the enclosed gyrocopter.
• The inside of Vizucop's mobile command center, essentially a retrofitted charter bus.
• Kenosha County's mobile response unit is basically an extremely aggressive trailer.
• As a nostalgia trip, IACP organizers dug up this BelAir sedan from 1973, originally found in Erie County but painted up to look like a Chicago patrol car from the era of V8 engines and Gerald Ford