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UK Police Unveil New 186mph Sports Car

UK Police Unveil New 186mph Sports Car

The Road Crimes Unit in Devon and Cornwall has been showing the public their brand new car - a 3.5-litre supercharged Lotus.

Beth Cunliffe

Beth Cunliffe

Devon and Cornwall Police RCU (Road Crimes Unit) has been showing off their latest piece of kit for tackling crime - a 186mph sports car.

The grey Lotus Evora GT410 Sport, decked out with high-visibility police markings, was unveiled on Twitter with the caption: "Another new RCU car has turned up."

Responding to queries on Twitter, they confirmed that they've got the vehicle for the next twelve months.

Devon and Cornwall Police

Devon and Cornwall Police

A quick check on the Lotus website reveals that the starting cost of the car is £88,675, it can reach 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds, and has a top speed of 186mph.

The supercharged V6, 24 valve, water-cooled, all-aluminium sports car has a maximum 410 horsepower, achieving 26MPG.

It's still unclear what the car will be specifically used for, with various Twitter enquiries left unanswered by the police force.

However, the main responsibilities of the RCU are supporting investigations into serious and organised crime through the provision of vehicle pursuit and containment tactics.

Recently, the reason why police officers touch the back of your car when they pull you over was revealed.

You might have noticed that before a police offer approaches they driver's side window, mainly in the US, they will briefly touch the rear end of the car.

Devon and Cornwall Police

If you've never noticed, either because you've never been pulled over or you're not a fan of police shows, it was highlighted by TikTok user, @mr.alexaa, who put together a little montage of police doing this over and over again.

And now traffic safety expert, Trooper Steve Montiero, has confirmed that it's actually part of routine police procedure.

But why? Well, there are two main reasons.

The first is to check that there's nobody hiding in the boot of the car. The last thing a police officer needs is somebody unexpectedly bursting open the boot.

And the second reason is to ensure the police officer's fingerprints are placed on the car - just in case the situation goes awry.

Trooper Steve Montiero said: "When law enforcement officers conduct a traffic stop, there are plenty of procedures that need to be done, not only for the safety of the violator, but for the safety of that officer.

"One of those things is proving that that officer was with that car, so when officers approach a vehicle, they touch the rear of it."

He went on to add: "The first reason is to make sure that the trunk is closed.

"It may sound a little crazy, but you want to make sure that no one is about to jump out of the trunk and that it's properly secured.

"Touching the rear of the vehicle puts the officer's fingerprints on that car, showing that he or she was there with it.

"In case the driver decided to flee the scene, or if something happened to that officer, it ties both the vehicle and the officer together."

Featured Image Credit: Devon and Cornwall Police

Topics: Police, UK News