Unveiling the History Behind Police Cars Color Scheme: the Classic Black and White

Ever wondered why cop cars are always rocking that classic black and white look? You’re not alone—it’s a question that even the experts scratch their heads over!

Edwin Sanow, who’s written tons about police cruisers, admits he’s stumped about how or when this color scheme became the go-to. But here’s a fun fact: back in the day, most cars rolled out of the factory sporting cheap japan black paint—yep, like the ones on Ford’s Model T. It was just more practical (and budget-friendly) for police departments to slap some white on their rides to make them stand out.

Interestingly, before the California Highway Patrol (CHP) kicked off in 1929, there wasn’t much uniformity in what police cars looked like. Rick Mattos from the CHP Museum mentions they even had a green 1923 Hupmobile once! But when the CHP got going, they chose white cars to stand out against the sea of black civilian vehicles.

Digging into some history, Monty McCord points out a slick-looking white 1929 Hudson coupe with a black roof in his book, noting it as one of the early CHP cars. And while it’s tricky to pinpoint the very first black-and-white police car, it’s clear this style really took off in pop culture thanks to Hollywood. The LAPD cars became iconic through countless movies and TV shows filmed around Southern California.

Take the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard—even before the main action kicks off, you’ve got LAPD cars zipping down the streets. But the real game-changer was the TV show Dragnet, which started in 1949. Jack Webb, the mastermind behind Dragnet, not only showcased LAPD’s work but often used actual LAPD cars on set. Kids back then could even build model kits of the Dragnet police car they saw on their screens!

Fast forward to 1955, and the TV show Highway Patrol had Broderick Crawford chasing bad guys in actual CHP cars, like the beefy 1955 Buick Century. For a lot of folks growing up in that era, the image of police cars was forever black and white thanks to those daily reruns.

And it wasn’t just a California thing. Over time, police departments from Miami to Milwaukee, and even far-off places like Tokyo, started sporting the black and white. It's become such a staple that even fictional towns like Mayberry in The Andy Griffith Show had their sheriff and deputy cruising around in a black-and-white Ford.

While we may not know exactly how or why the black and white scheme started, it's clearly here to stay. And though police vehicles around the world might sport different colors, when most of us dream of cop cars, we're definitely seeing them in black and white.