State Senator Rogers Says Law Enforcement Should Be Required to Use Marked Vehicles

Video Transcribed:  Should cops even have unmarked vehicles? Oklahoma State Senator Rogers says no. I’m Oklahoma attorney James Wirth. We’re talking about a new bill proposed by Oklahoma State Senator Rogers, where he provides in the bill that law enforcement should be required to use marked vehicles. Unmarked vehicles should not be used. And in some news articles and some statements that he’s made to the press, he’s given some indications on why.

He says, “Essentially if our concern is the safety of the public, having those marked vehicles where people know that the vehicles are there has a tendency to have people drive more carefully and to monitor their speed better, whereas unmarked vehicles result in more in just simply stopping people and traffic citations. So if safety is the goal, we should go marked. If revenue-raising through traffic citations and fines is our goal, then unmarked may make sense.”

He notes that he’s talked to some constituents who have had encounters with law enforcement, where they had no way of identifying the vehicles if they were even actual officers.

That’s another concern regarding public safety is if you’re being pulled over and stopped if there’s not an easy way to identify if the person trying to pull you over is actually law enforcement or somebody impersonating a law enforcement officer. So what did the Senator do?

The Senator has drafted and is proposing what is Oklahoma Senate Bill 1109, which is set to be conferenced on and discussed at a February 2022 legislative session in Oklahoma.

Part of that bill provides as follows, and I quote, “No law enforcement vehicle shall be marked with graphics that are the same or similar color to the color of the vehicle. All graphics or markings of law enforcement vehicles shall be in a color or colors contrasting with the vehicle to which applied for maximum visibility.”

So that is part of the law that he is proposing, Senate Bill 1109. So what do you think? Should law enforcement in Oklahoma have unmarked vehicles? Is there a reason for that? Does it serve the public interest, or should all law enforcement vehicles have to be marked? Make a comment below. Let me know what you think about that.

If this is an issue that is more close to your situation based on being pulled over, stopped, or having an active case, you’re going to want to talk to somebody specifically about that, get an attorney to consult that is confidential. To get that scheduled by somebody in my office, you can go online to makelaweasy.com.