Police vehicles in the United Kingdom

The 52 police forces in the UK use a wide range of operational vehicles including compact cars, powerful estates and armored police carriers. The main uses are patrol, response, tactical pursuit and public order policing. Other vehicles used by British police include motorcycles, aircraft and boats.

Patrol cars may also be known as response or area cars. They are the most essential mode of police transport. In most forces these vehicles are low-budget compact cars due to the simple tasks they need to perform. The Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Fiesta have both been used as patrol cars by forces recently.

Engine sizes vary according to each forces vehicle procurement policies but range from 1.3 to 2.0. Although petrol-powered engines once dominated, diesel engines are now becoming much more common due to their superior fuel economy and therefore lower operating costs.

Forces may choose to use unmarked patrol cars to double up as diary cars, covert cars and unmarked transport vehicles for discreet escort of civilians or prisoners.

Marked variants of these cars feature a single row of battenburg police markings on each side of car with 'Police' lettering on the front and rear of the vehicle. Badges or slogans from police forces can be found on the front and sides of marked cars in most areas to identify the force it belongs to. Most marked cars also have hi-vis chevrons on the back.

These vehicles are used for attending 999 calls and patrolling in targeted areas, where a police officer may be needed more urgently. Many forces do not differ between patrol and response cars; this could mean the response car is used to cover both its normal role and the duty of a traditional patrol car. Forces including City of London Police and Thames Valley Police do not differentiate between the two types of cars and use only one specification identified as a response car. Response cars are not authorized to pursue a failing to stop suspect: an area car, traffic car or advanced blue light trained officer will take over the pursuit.

Response cars are much the same as the patrol cars but will generally carry equipment and lighting for use at traffic accidents, such as cones, red and blue boot or side police lights, warning signs and basic first aid equipment. Many response cars in the UK now also carry mobile technology which can be linked to police databases and automatic number plate recognition technology. Most response cars have sirens. The Vauxhall Astra or Ford Focus are a classic but key car in police response units.

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