Car window tints are getting in trend these days but it is illegal in many countries and states. We see many cop cars having darker tints than what is allowed. Now the big question is are cop cars allowed to do so. Before that let’s first find out can cop cars have tinted windows.
Also Read: Are Tinted Headlights Legal?
Can Cop Cars Have Tinted Windows?
Well, to answer this cop cars can have tinted windows in most of the states. States like Texas, Colorado, Alabama, Florida, New York, and many more have exempted cop cars from tint laws. In these states, a cop can legally get their car windows and windshield tinted.
Be it marked or unmarked police cars, driven by any police agency, the cop cars can have tints even darker than that allowed to civilians or passenger vehicles. Apart from cop cars in some states, there is also a medical exemption up to some limits for laws related to tint. Now you might be wondering why cops are given this benefit and why cop cars have tinted windows, no need to worry, we have got the answer to this as well.
Why Are Cop Cars Allowed To Have Tinted Windows In Most States Of US?
The first reason that comes to a layman’s mind about the exemption of cop cars from window tint laws is security.
We often see cop cars having tinted windows with very low visibility. The way they are allowed to jump a red light and still don’t get a ticket, in the same manner, cop cars can have tinted windows, and still, they don’t get any ticket for that in most of the states.
The reason behind them being exempted from general laws is the security of the officers in most cases. The windows of the cop cars are being tinted to keep the identity of the officers a secret and to protect them from any outside danger. This is done mostly in the cases of high-profile officers.
Officers handling confidential cases need to be protected from civilians so while on the road either all the windows of cop cars are tinted or only back windows are tinted or in some cases back windows along with the windshields are tinted.
Other Reasons Why Cop Cars Can Have Tinted Windows
- To secure the identity of the wrongdoer offender or culprit
- To secure the identity of the victim
- To avoid any kind of harmful attacks by public
- To avoid questioning and crowd by media
- For smooth movement of VIP’s
- During strong cases, darker window tinting conceals the identity of the suspect in the rear.
- Some tint qualities are employed to keep the glass from shattering.
Now, you might be wondering how dark a tint can cop cars have. Let’s find out.
How Dark Can a Cop Car’s Tint Be?
Cop cars can have more dark tints than is allowed to civilians or normal public or passenger vehicles. The US does not have any common or federal law regarding tints so it depends on the state up to what limit they want to put restrictions.
Many states have specified tint limits for example in Texas VLT percentage for front side and backside windows is 25% so the cop cars being exempted from tint laws can have darker tints that are allowed to the normal public. Too dark a tint can also be harmful as it will cause lesser visibility.
The tint’s darkness will also be determined by the car. Some vehicles will have deeper hues and will carry high-priority items or persons whose identities must be kept hidden.
Bottomline
As we’ve read above, cop cars can have tinted windows and yes that’s legal as cop cars being a part of law enforcement are exempt from tint laws by most of the states.
