Why would a King County Sheriff's SUV be driving around Copenhagen?

November 29, 2019 1:44 PM

I was walking around Copenhagen, Denmark this afternoon and saw a King County (Washington State, USA) Sheriff's department black-and-white SUV driving around. It had the Martin Luther King Jr. logo and everything. It was from something like the traffic department, or traffic control department, I can't remember exactly.

Why was it there? I didn't see the license plate so I don't know if it still had Washington plates or local ones. King County wouldn't sell a surplus vehicle with all the markings and lights, would it? I'm so confused.

posted by under_petticoat_rule to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

Members of the US military get vehicles shipped to new assignments, maybe somebody got it used? Or it's a movie prop?
posted by theora55 at 1:53 PM on November 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

Filming something there that takes place in WA?
posted by amro at 2:17 PM on November 29, 2019 [5 favorites]

I do know there are jurisdictions that sell off old vehicles with markings and light bar intact. What it would be doing in Denmark I have no idea.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:14 PM on November 29, 2019

Best answer: Not an answer, but you're not the first to notice this vehicle. Looks like Swedish plates, and probably not a movie set.
posted by acidic at 3:24 PM on November 29, 2019 [10 favorites]

I've seen similar things here in the UK. There are enthusiasts who have replica US police vehicles because... well, I don't know. US television and film have a big presence in European culture, such that cultural artefacts like Sheriff's SUVs are recognisably exotic. Maybe they take it to events and people get their picture taken with it. Or maybe they rent it out for stag/hen parties, or something.
posted by pipeski at 3:59 PM on November 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

Those are not tires you would expect to see in a county vehicle.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:49 PM on November 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

I’m a King County employee, not in the Sheriff’s office but have to meet with them occasionally. I really want to call someone there and ask about this! Should I?
posted by centrifugal at 5:09 PM on November 29, 2019 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Apparently, the SUV belongs to some sort of American police car rental outfit operating in Denmark: https://www.facebook.com/RentACopNu/. There’s a pic of the SUV you’re talking about under Mobile Uploads on their FB page.

Some more info in this Reddit thread, including a couple comments from the esteemed proprietor of Rent-A-Cop.nu.
posted by un petit cadeau at 5:22 PM on November 29, 2019 [14 favorites]

I know someone in the UK that has an american car (a right-hand-drive ford mustang import I think) with a US Police Vinyl wrap. The wrap wasn't a one-off for him, it was something the company that applied it had advertised.

He told me that if your car looks even remotely like a UK Police car you can be prosecuted. And if your car looks like a generic police-ish vehicle you are on unsafe ground, and people have been prosecuted. But if your car is a replica of a not-UK police car then you're fine because you are demonstrably not impersonating the local police.

This sounds like pub-talk and armchair-lawyering to me, but it is plausible. And it might explain why a rent-a-cop-car firm would use a foreign police livery rather than a local one.
posted by samworm at 10:23 AM on November 30, 2019