Unmarked cars have been around almost since the dawn of vehicle policing in Australia. They are used to police speeding and people breaking road rules covertly.
Unmarked police cars differ from 'undercover' police vehicles in that they are often equipped with more traffic enforcement equipment — number plate scanners, speed detection, large antennas for communication, and more lights.
Undercover vehicles are used for covert operations and usually do not feature the equipment needed for speed and traffic enforcement. They are also usually driven by plain-clothed officers.
We will focus on the 'unmarked' category and how to spot them.
What's the difference between unmarked, undercover and camera cars?
Technically, Australia does not use the term 'undercover'. If a vehicle does not have police markings on it but is used for police activity, then it is 'unmarked'.
However, there is a distinct difference between what we would consider unmarked, which would be Highway Patrol vehicles with no police stickers, and what we would classify as undercover, which would be used by detectives and plain-clothed general duties officers.
It's the same difference between general duties and Highway Patrol, just without the markings — Highway Patrol vehicles have speed-calculating equipment and licence plate scanners and are often in vehicles that can handle a pursuit.
Unmarked general duties/detective vehicles typically do not feature speed-calculating equipment or licence plate scanners and are often smaller cars, such as a Hyundai Sonata or a Volkswagen Passat.
Then there are camera cars, which aren't police cars at all. These vehicles are operated by a company contracted by the state authority. The only involvement the police have with camera cars is that they choose where they are placed.
Why does the Highway Patrol use unmarked vehicles?
Australian Highway Patrol has long used unmarked vehicles, the earliest being a Mini Cooper S in 1966, when New South Wales Police employed the micro-machine for speed enforcement.
A spokesperson for the NSW Police Force told Drive it's part of its "anytime, anywhere" campaign.
"The NSW Police Force continues to place a huge focus on road safety and has a number of strategies in place to ensure the roads of NSW are safer for the community. NSWPF utilises both marked and unmarked vehicles to maintain an anytime, anywhere approach to policing activities," said the NSWPF spokesperson.
This approach has garnered mixed reactions online. Some believe that if you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have to worry. But others say the visual deterrent that comes with a marked police vehicle slows people down.
"The thing is, I don't believe unmarked cop cars do anything to increase road safety. Whereas a marked police car on the road definitely does," said one Reddit user.
"Don't break the law, and you won't be troubled by police, marked or otherwise," rebutted another.
However, the NRMA surveyed 3305 members across NSW and the ACT, and the majority said the best deterrent for bad road behaviour was marked cars, while only 10 per cent said unmarked cars were the best.
"There is overwhelming public support for NSW Police with 90 per cent of respondents saying there should be more visible policing on our roads," as written in the 2023 NRMA survey.
How to spot an unmarked police car
Unmarked police cars come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Sometimes, it can be quite hard to spot them, but there are a number of things that give them away.
Unlike undercover police vehicles, unmarked Highway Patrol vehicles need to be capable of engaging in a pursuit and handling well. For this reason, state police services will often opt for performance-based vehicles.
The two most common vehicles found in and around cities are the Chrysler 300 SRT, BMW 5 Series (wagon and sedan), BMW X5 M Sport, Kia Stinger, BMW M3 and, in some cases, Subaru WRX.
However, in rural and semi-rural areas, the Highway Patrol has been known to get even more sneaky with its unmarked fleet, which uses the Isuzu D-Max, Isuzu MU-X, Ford Everest, Toyota LandCruiser/Prado 200 Series, and Toyota HiLux 70 Series.
Licence plates are frequently a dead giveaway for unmarked cars. They will use standard-issue plates rather than slim-line or special-edition sets.
For New South Wales, it's particularly noticeable; it's rare to see yellow standard-issue plates on a privately owned high-trim 5 Series or 300 SRT with the majority of owners opting for the optional white and black plates – however, the unmarked cars will almost always have yellow plates.
While this is the case for most states, some Victorian and NSW unmarked cars have begun using the slim plates, with a BMW 530D spotted with the optional slim plates on it.
Contrary to popular belief, unmarked police car licence plates do not start with a set letter or number. They are all completely random, like other cars on the road. However, if two unmarked vehicles have been registered in the same location and time, they may have similar plates.
If you have to question why one of the aforementioned vehicles is parked illegally on a highway or freeway, it's most likely an unmarked car.
Road Rules 2014 - Regulation 177 (expanded further in Regulation 178) forbids vehicles from stopping on a motorway unless there is an emergency.
You will often see unmarked police cars stopped on the centre divider, in the emergency lane (sometimes even facing the opposite way of traffic) or tucked up to the side of on-ramps.
This has gained public criticism previously when an unmarked car was spotted blocking a pathway just outside of Sydney.
If you have particularly good eyesight, you will be able to see the small rectangles in the vehicle's grille; these are the emergency lights.
Victorian police are known to place the emergency lights on either side of the rear licence plate.
Most other states will also have emergency lights placed in the front and rear windows.
Antennas are another obvious giveaway for police vehicles. Highway Patrol vehicles need to be consistently connected to the network, even in low/no service zones, to access the registry and police database.
You will frequently see one or more large antennas either on the front or the rear of the vehicles.
However, as technology advances, we are beginning to see the antennas get smaller and sneakier.
A few unmarked police cars have been spotted with an antenna installed in the front windshield, which looks virtually undetectable.
Other unmarked cars have been spotted with the base of an aerial, but with the antenna detached.
Zane Dobie comes from a background of motorcycle journalism, working for notable titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine, Just Bikes and BikeReview. Despite his fresh age, Zane brings a lifetime of racing and hands-on experience. His passion now resides on four wheels as an avid car collector, restorer, drift car pilot and weekend go-kart racer.
