Loud cars. Bumping music. Handheld pocket computers. There’s no shortage of distractions that might keep you from hearing (or seeing) an approaching police vehicle. To combat the rising tide of audio and visual distractions, authorities use odd combinations of lights and sirens. But effectiveness didn’t stop TikTok users from slamming a police SUV for its silly lights, despite the video’s point of showing off its siren. 

A video invited a roast of a police SUV in Capitol Heights, Maryland, for its out-of-place dash lights

A new video of a Capitol Heights Police Department Ford Police Interceptor Utility SUV attracted some attention on TikTok. But not for any positive reason. Instead, a small part of the police-liveried Ford SUV soaked up negative reactions for its dash-mounted emergency lights.

“That windshield light [is] hideous,” one poster said, not pulling any punches. Another TikTok user chimed in, “I get the rest of the package, but why the Amazon dash lights?” Yikes. At least he didn’t call them a “Temu special” or something to that effect. 

“Need to ditch the dash lights and hook up the headlight flasher that comes from the factory for the Fords.” While the judgment is subjective, the point about Ford’s police offerings is spot-on. Ford offers the Police Interceptor Utility with flashing emergency lights within the headlamps. 

“One of my personal favorites,” another user commented. “But could he have any more lights on that thing? My God.” Hell, one user by the handle “Thatonepoliceaddict” said “too many lights omg” of the vehicle. Ouch. 

The video was meant to show off the police SUV’s strange siren

The video claims the Capitol Heights police vehicle was rocking “the Omega Sweep,” referring to an Omega siren system with an interesting sweeping sound. Unfortunately for the SUV, the attention that the siren could have grabbed online instead went to the horizontal lights sitting just above the dash line. But a listen to the system does reveal a perplexing soundtrack for American police vehicles. 

There’s merit to strange sirens and attention-grabbing lights

Granted, not every police, fire, or EMS vehicle has old-school video game-esque soundtracks. However, many emergency vehicles have selectable sirens with different sounds and tempos. This isn’t for parades and TikTok videos, either.

When I drove an ambulance for a local fire department, we used tone swaps to “clear intersections.” In short, I would switch between sirens to break up the monotony of a single soundtrack. The chaotic sounds stood a better chance of getting the attention of distracted motorists at intersections, one of the most dangerous places to be during a code three emergency response. But the practicality of unorthodox lights and sirens didn’t stop this police SUV from getting a proper roasting. 

MotorBiscuit reached out to the Capitol Heights Police Department via Instagram message for comment.