Advertising on Police Cars

[captain canuck]

Lets see how well this debate takes off (I anticipate only mild interest, and it's my own thread...)

This was partially inspired by the following snippet of a song lyric:

Here’s a quarter for the phone
Why don’t you call someone and find out
How it is we can all belong
To something that no one
Wants any part of
One day you’lll wake up and they’ll be
Advertising on police cars
And your death will sell you out
As someone smart,
Somewhat smart So I thought, Matt's just randomly selecting something that would seem ludicrous and unnecessary to react against the commercialization of all things, right?

Well. No. Turns out it was inspired by what was actually happening at the time:

http://www.policeandsecuritynews.com/marapr03/Advertising.htm

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1003/p01s01-ussc.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-10-30-ad-usat_x.htm


And in spite of the fact that the newsreels got tired of the issue after overdoing it in 2002, it was still going on. And it seems like the media may be starting up a new wave of concerned journalism, see for instance:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/02/14/ad_watch_police_sponsors_put_littleton_cruiser_on_ the_road/


I won't quite set parameters for the debate. They're somewhere around whether you agree with it or not, but I'm not necessarily limiting it to this case -- it may well just be a good example (of which there are others) of advertising venturing somewhere it probably shouldn't. Or can. Or maybe it was inevitable. But perhaps the issue should be generalized?

Thoughts?

[Darkscull]

well, however much i hate advertising, it's everywhere.

it does generate money though.
and the police do a good job (as in, a job for the public good, they may be terrible at it though), so presumably getting funding for more cars outside of taxes and such may be a good thing.
the same could be done with ambulances, and fire-engines.

i would not like seeing the advertising, i would find it distasteful. however, it's for a good cause (hopefully), so i think i could stomach it.

it's not as if this advertising would be generating personal profit for some police commissioner, is it?

[Amasis]

Personally, I see the need to turn to advertising for the provision of such services as a failing on the part of the management of those services (either by those in the service or, ultimately, by the governments who make the decisions regarding funding). I also dislike the idea that any private enterprise might have even a smidgen of influence in our public services. Especially when it comes to those who are supposedly upholding the law and who should do so regardless of race/religion/gender/connections etc.

One potential issue regarding relying on advertising revenue to run basic public services is the consequences of the advertiser pulling out of the deal at a later stage. Would the vehicles sit in a garage gathering dust whilst people scrambled for new advertisers?

Also, whereas a bill-board or a yellow pages advert carries no connotation of recommendation, I feel an advert on the side of a police car cannot help but give the impression of some sort of recommendation. In which case, have the police force actively checked out the advertiser, and will they continue to check them and any new companies to make sure such a 'recommendation' is fair?

[Wahoo]

Working close-by to a budget manager fro a police force, I know first hand the police are having lots of money problems, they need all the support from local businesses that they can get, and why not? If it supports the greater good in providing a better service then there cannot be anything bad in that.

I wouldn't say that, from that picture anyway, the advert is saying "hey, eat at joes", it's saying that the business in question is partnering the police force, in my opinion that means helping to make it better by providing funds.

I think that it is only right that the police check who is planning to advertise, it would be a huge damage to their reputation if they didn't.

[Amasis]

If (as I don't doubt they are) police forces are suffering severe money troubles, shouldn't there be a much larger re-assessment of the needs and requirements of our modern services? It seems that advertising revenue (or for that matter the 'city academies' of education or the use of private health-care providers in the health system) is a short-term solution that doesn't tackle the root of the problem, it just tries to solve it for moment. The demands placed on those services is only going to increase with time. Will we just increase the size and number of the adverts to compensate?

I just think that problems such as these, whilst perhaps needing a temporary short-term stop-gap, require a much larger re-think of our future needs and how we're going to meet those needs.

[renatzu]

I can't help but feel that this could lead to a conflict of interest eventually. Everybody likes complaining about taxes, but an extra few dollars from everybody is no great burden, and it will mean more police cars. Better that than get a biased private enterprise muddled in with what should be an impartial, public service.

[Smartie]

Actually, I find this a very interesting concept, being able to utilise more private sector money to fund the public sector.

I agree that there clearly is going to be a problem over the issue of "they sponsor us therefore they are law abiding" but I don't think dodgy businesses are likely to offer up some money. And even if they do it's likely the force will reject their offer.

I assume that any offers for advertising or sponsorship would be vetted by someone external to the police, thus avoiding the whole "they're dodgy but they're offering us $1 million and we're skint" approach.

It is interesting to read the initial article where one police force has been unable to buy a new vehicle for 14 years and this way this means they will eb able to afford a new one. That's shocking that the US government cannot provide provision for a new police vehicle, although i recall seeing a show about some american forces in the more rural communities where one officer covers miles and miles of land on their own.

If there is some way in which the resources, and thus the effectiveness, of policing can be improved, then shouldn't we embrace the opportunity head on?

I think policeandsecuritynews.com says it best:
"The bottom line, when citizens dials 9-1-1, they do not really care if the police arrive in a Wienermobile as long the officers arrive quickly and ready to handle the emergency."

[Wahoo]

I know in the mod police that the DVA do the vetting procedures, dunno about the home office police though.

However, it becomes questionnable when officers start doing it simply for personal gain. I can see it happening. If you asked most people why they joined the police, mostly all of them will say because of the salary of that the money is good. Which it is, you get to monitor areas, walk around, heck you might not have any action for the whole day, but at the end of the day, your salary is not based on how many incidents you are involved in.

[Meadow]

I know in the mod police that the DVA do the vetting procedures, dunno about the home office police though.

However, it becomes questionnable when officers start doing it simply for personal gain. I can see it happening. If you asked most people why they joined the police, mostly all of them will say because of the salary of that the money is good. Which it is, you get to monitor areas, walk around, heck you might not have any action for the whole day, but at the end of the day, your salary is not based on how many incidents you are involved in.

But you've still been available and would have been there had something occurred. I think that's a good system of salary.

[Cjw]

As long as we don't get to the point where the police are driving around in red and yellow mcdonalds cars or bright blue pepsi cars, i'm not worried.