Thread: Strobes vs Rotators

What do you prefer for your police vehicle. Strobes or rotators?....Also depending on which light system you have OVERHEAD what do you mount on your dash or rear deck. Do you keep the same syle as your overheads or do you mix and match strobes and rotators?

I don't know if i could fully lean one way or the other. I personally like a car decked out in strobes. Now i say this for two reasons. 1 being that for rear deck lights you can usually set different speeds to get a different speed than that of the lightbar. 2 I think that a strobe light can be spotted farther away and grabes attention better and quicker than that of the conventional rotator. But I do like the Vector bar for a light bar on the cruisers. In my opinion you get better side visibility from the Vector bar b/c you see red and blue lights rather the the 1 rotator from the conventional light bar. My ideal cruiser would be the slick top Crown Vic decked out with as many strobes as I could fit into one car. Just my 2 cents worth.

Good discussion question.
BD

Stobes definitely look sharper and grab your attention quicker. I particularly like the strobes on the front of the side view mirrors.

Although I voted for rotators, I also think a blend may be the best of both worlds. you get the intensity and brightness of the strobe combined with length of flash and better wavelength with the rotator.

While we are on the topic, lets broaden it a little bit. Red and/or blue? What about white and yellow mixed in? Slick roof vs. lightbars?

IMHO: Conventional lightbar with rotators. Vectors are great. Color combination is not important but USDOT should standardize the color patterns to distinguish between police, fire, volunteers, etc. Forward facing strobes. Forward and side facing white light. Alley, takedown, etc. At least one yellow flasher or rotator to the rear. No strobes to the rear. I guess that's it.

Originally posted by JimSpoor

While we are on the topic, lets broaden it a little bit. Red and/or blue? What about white and yellow mixed in? Slick roof vs. lightbars?

I like all blue lights with red and yellow rear flashers, whether it's strobes or rotators.

Slick tops a must for traffic enforcement and a no-no for the everyday patrol officer. It's just too dangerous to try and clear an intersection without a light bar. IMHO.

As far as my opinion I think strobes look great at night. However, during the day you can't see them. There have also been studies that say drunks are attracted to the strobes and the disco effect it has on them. Also, as a driver I have noticed that from afar it is hard to distinguish what lane or side of the road a unit with strobes is on until you are right up on them. With rotators you are able to see "oh there's a cop on the right, or left or wherever"

IMHO My vote is for rotators. With some strobes thrown into the read and front deck, headlights, rear brakes lights and even on the sideview mirrors. I like the new code 3 lighter which has the white intersector in the middle. (usually a white or yellow)

Red rotation lights are proven to be the most safe and effective.. Reason why most state police agencies have Vector bars.. I personally HATE those awefull streethawk light bars.. I like vectors and to some extent like strobes on certain cars.

Our cars are outfitted with rotators on top and strobes on the rear deck, rear view mirrors, and facing out on the push bars. We have one car with strobes on top which kicks out a lot of light and also a couple of slick tops for patrol. Slick tops are great for sneaking up on people but suck for clearing intersections.

In the county that I live in they have a very sharp vehicle out right now that has a little combination..

They purchased a 2001 Tahoe and put the standard red/blue vector bar on top. Then on the front it is equipped with the brush gaurd. Then in the middle of the gaurd there is one red and blue strobe light. Then it has the clear strobes that bounce out from the side of the headlight and then in the rear the taillighs strobe red along with the reverse lights. it is pretty sharp and grabs the attention of everyone.

But if you look at this topic, look at the Michigan State Police. They have the solid red bubble light on top. That is all they used to have. But now they have equipped the vehicles with rear dash red/blue strobes to give that extra lighting and to prevent so many troops from being run over.

But give me a black unmarked slick top 2002 Ford interceptor with a brush gaurd on front. And equip that SOB with all the lights possible. But then again it is kinda tacky to overdue it also..... But give me one that I would be proud to lighitup with..

NATE

Originally posted by CustomsCop
Red rotation lights are proven to be the most safe and effective.. Reason why most state police agencies have Vector bars.. I personally HATE those awefull streethawk light bars.. I like vectors and to some extent like strobes on certain cars.

im not questioning your statement....but do you know where and who did that test?? would be interesting to see what they tested and how it rated..........also why does everyone like the vectors?? i thought i heard some pd's didnt like them because the pods break too much. to many moving parts

i also thought i read a test somewgere that stated ed was good for during the day and blue was good for at night.......i agree with you customs, i think red looks good during all times of the day.....throw in a little yellow there too and wow thats bright.......unfortunately my department only allows blue

WELL WE JUST HAVE THE BEST EQUIPMENT TO BEGIN WITH....LOL.....BUT I DID FINE THE PAST 5 YEARS WITH WHAT LITTLE WE HAD IN MY UNIT........AN UNMARKED DODGE INTREPID OR YELLOW TAXI (CROWN VIC) WITH JUST A REGULAR HORN OR THE HORN AND A SINGLE ROTATING RED CHERRY LIGHT FOR THE DASH OR ROOF.----5 YRS OF THAT ZIPPING THROUGH MIDTOWN MANHATTAN TRAFFIC AT THE HEIGHT OF RUSH HOUR OR IN THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING.........OUR EQUIPMENT IS JUST GREAT.......HA, HA

ACTUALLY WHAT MOST OF OUR CARS NOW HAVE IS GREAT--A STANDARD ROTATING RED AND WHITE LIGHT BAR FOR THE ROOF----SOME REAR FLASHERS AND STROBES IN THE FRONT TURN SIGNAL LIGHTS (CLEARING THE INTERSECTIONS AS YOU APPROACH--WHITE STROBES)

I voted rotators. As previous posts stated, I just don't think the strobes are very effective or visible during the day. At night, they are very good though. Our dept uses red/blue rotating light bars with a white center rotator. Some of our squads have strobes in the headlamps and taillamps and an arrowstick bar in back deck. We just recently got push bumpers and I think we'll be adding strobes to that in the near future.

I know they aren't very prevalent yet and are quite expensive, but does anyone have an opinion on the LED light bars? Our unmarked units (mostly detectives) have gone to them on the sun visor up front and one on the back deck.

There was a study put out about 10-15 years ago which was conducted in reguards to emergency lights. It was proven that red rotaters beacon out a light which can be seen in all types of weather and it directly corlates an emergency situation. Its one reason why Michigan still has the "Bubble top" light on its cruisers and California requires a red steady burn light by police cars in emergency situations.

As for vectors, yes they have a high motor burn out BUT they are the most visible

i like rotators on the roof, strobes for the corners of the turn signals, halogen flashers on the rear deck(blue/amber), and a red steady burn to the front below the rearview mirror. I think strobes are good in small numbers, but I hate the Whelen all strobe bars, too much flashing, gives me a headache.

The other thing I like, which I have only seen in the NY Metro area (Papi will know what I mean) are these pod looking things that PAPD and NYPD Highway uses that sit behind the light bar. They are basically two sticks folded down with flashers and spotlights attached and the cop can raise them up so they stand about ten feet above the roof. Impossible to miss. I wish I could find a pic, I'm sure the city has a pic of it somehwere on their website.

PS: All the lights in the world are meaningless to the clueless idiot who is oblivious to all things around them while driving. I'm sure any of the cops on this board know what i mean.

Originally posted by lestat

The other thing I like, which I have only seen in the NY Metro area (Papi will know what I mean) are these pod looking things that PAPD and NYPD Highway uses that sit behind the light bar. They are basically two sticks folded down with flashers and spotlights attached and the cop can raise them up so they stand about ten feet above the roof. Impossible to miss. I wish I could find a pic, I'm sure the city has a pic of it somehwere on their website.

here is a pic of that light bar on a nypd highway patrol unit......pretty cool....it's in the closed position here

our cruisers have vectors...i think their great!