i was riding a bicycle heading back to my hotel room in berlin when i spied a hearty inflammation of moto-bike mounted polizei. now, i am not versed in german customs….. and especially not versed in the ways of the polizei, but it seemed kind of odd. it almost looked as if they were banded together in required group formation back to base after a shift. there was no sense of urgency or emergency for that matter. perhaps they were headed to the splügen brau and then homeways for a bit of spatchka ?

in paris the police cars definitely are not trying to be macho or intimidating… indeed much like the famed “pink panther” inspector clouseau, the police cars in paris have a comical and bungling air. combine this with the french sirens (usually only heard to american ears in movies) the aesthetics of policing in france are more sophisticated, authentic and mis-shapen… which i actually prefer and will happily take any day over a good old-fashioned american tazing!

municipal fuzz. city heat. bacon. bobby. dogs. old bill. pigs. flat foots. woodentops. blue meanies. boys in blue. bulls. filth. tha folks. the man. heavies. rashers. rollers. uncle blue. tire biters. whoop-whoops. it doesn’t matter which term you prefer for your local law enforcement, all i know is that i love the mondrian style graphics on this london police cruiser and if i got pulled over by a 5 series sporting such stylish test-pattern embellishments it would make a bitter pill taste just a wee bit sweeter.