Marked-unmarked units

[Sasquatch]

15 vehicles marked only 2 unmarked.

Magnets are a very bad idea. Do you really want some idiot sticking your magnets on his mom's white mini-van and tearing around the city?

We have minimal marking (network ident) on doors and small on hood and tailgate. I think it makes you a target for theft and for "media fearful" police. Rolling up to the house of a dead soldiers family, in a moving billboard, just makes it a difficult situation that much more difficult. Parking is easier in a marked unit. I just stick a sign in the windshield of my unmarked when I need access to an event or parking.

I would vote for unmarked all the way, except on Live Trucks. Unfortunately it's a management decision.

 

[Canonman]

We do take our vehicles home, and my GF hates riding in the marked vehicle. I would like to to see us get all-white magnets to cover the logo when we take them home, or when we need some discretion.

The white magnet idea is a good one. Who's gonna want to steal a plain white magnet? And if one should happen to fall off, the worst you'd have is a logo showing.

cm

 

[Sasquatch]

Oh...white magnet.

I thought the suggestion was a magnet with a station ID on it. White one over a station logo is a great idea for our units which have minimal marking. If you're logo'd up to the n#ts, it wouldn't help.

 

[amp]

I have a 12" X 24" heavy duty posterboard with "MEDIA" and station logos on it. I put it in the windsheild whenever I need to get thru a checkpoint or park illegally. Never had any problems not being marked, and it is so much safer to be a plain-Jane vehicle. In larger markets, you aren't a target for theives. In any town, you can sneek up on scenes without being detected.

 

[svp]

Not a chief either but when i had an unmarked vehicle i had a hard time gaining access to spot news situations such as the wildfires we had here in oklahoma. I was getting so frustrated that I requested to be marked. Theft really doesn't seem to be an issue here and being marked has benefited me more than it has hurt. I guess it just depends on the market. Oh yea, we're market #45 and nearly all the vehicles from all the stations are marked. We have 11 vehicles and 7 are marked including the live trucks

 

[svp]

Not a chief either but when i had an unmarked vehicle i had a hard time gaining access to spot news situations such as the wildfires we had here in oklahoma. I was getting so frustrated that I requested to be marked. Theft really doesn't seem to be an issue here and being marked has benefited me more than it has hurt. I guess it just depends on the market. Oh yea, we're market #45 and nearly all the vehicles from all the stations are marked.

 

[focusthis]

Having one of the last naked trucks at my station, I'm dreading the eventual switch to a marked Ford Explorer. Double whammy of suck. At least the tow truck will find me easier.

Never encountered a situation that a placard in the windsheild didn't fix.

I'd feel better if management and promotions had marked vehicles in their driveways!

/Am I a whore for free gas?
//lives close enough to walk
/// 140k mile Chevy ROX!1!

 

[amp]

Never encountered a situation that a placard in the windsheild didn't fix.

Exactly! Just make a professional looking placard. Mine cost a whopping $2.

 

[Joda]

we are all four stations marked in Portland Oregon, and we've had two cars broke into, mine last week. I do have an alarm, but the rest of our cars at our station don't.

 

[amp]

we are all four stations marked in Portland Oregon, and we've had two cars broke into, mine last week. I do have an alarm, but the rest of our cars at our station don't.

This is another reason to be unmarked. Is losing $30K in gear worth the free advertising?

 

[Canuck Photog]

Toronto & the GTA:

CFTO: mostly unmarked...though I did see one of their Uplanders with the network logos driving around last week....
Global TV: marked (gotta love 'em wagons...)
CityTV/CP24: marked...REALLY marked
CH TV: marked
CBC: marked (subtle, minimalist markings)
A-Channel: marked
Rogers TV, (all four channels): marked

- CP

 

[thru-the-lens]

A little visual trickery

Once saw a station that had unit numbers on them. Each side of the car had a different set of numbers. Made to look like the small market had more vehicles than they really had. It worked great if the car was moving.

 

[goodfoot]

marked unit

I have a marked car, 90% of the time I hate it because of the people yelling at me, the fear of getting broken into, cars almost cutting me off on the freeway as the driver looks over to see who is in my car...etc.

Also, it would be easier to pull up to a house where a mourning family is outside and be able to get out and talk to them without the camera. With a marked unit, they see us coming a block away and either go inside, or they dislike us before we even say a word....

On the other hand, there is that 10% of the time that I get waved through to a fire/crime scene without a debate (where time is valuable), and park (almost) wherever I want without a ticket.

GOODFOOT

FYI, us and the univision station are the only one's with marked cars. We have four or five that are unmarked for those "undercover" stories.

 

[Newshutr]

I'm not a chief but Three of our four live trucks are marked but with very small logos. Our sat truck is logo'ed to a big extent.

Our older news vehicles are marked with a small logo on the rear quarter panels. Our newer vehicles are unmarked with small placards to place on the dash.

I'm glad that I have an unmarked vehicle. I get closer to stories overnight. A lot of the cops recognize my Explorer and they'll let me park within their blocked off area as long as I don't cross any thing they've marked off.

 

[schlagdrg]

Unmarked... I have a plain white Explorer. The local sheriffs also have the same for unmarked. I've been on stories when they let me in just because they thought I was one of them. Is that ethical? That's for a whole nother discussion. But I've been on the tail end of police pursuits (not excessive speeds) and pulled right in on the arrest. I have a placard when I need it, but I prefer unmarked.

Once when I was driving a marked car, I had a person call in and complain that I was tailgating them. The desk called me and asked, "What was up?" I told them that we were in a parking lot leaving a baseball game and the traffic was bumper to bumper less than 5mph. Yeah I was tailgating them...