Can an unmarked patrol car pull you over in California? What state law says
Many drivers tend to slow down when they notice a patrol car on the side of the road.
What happens if law enforcement vehicles aren’t easily identifiable?
Can you legally be pulled over by an unmarked police car in California?
In the state of California, law enforcement officers must follow specific rules dictating when and how undercover vehicles can be used.
Here’s what you need to know.
What does California law say about police patrol cars?
According to California Vehicle Code, on-duty law enforcement officers must wear “full distinctive” uniforms and drive motor vehicles that are “a distinctive color specified by the (state) commissioner.”
In other words, vehicles used by police officers, sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers must be easily identifiable as patrol cars.
This rule applies to law enforcement officers conducting typical traffic stops to maintain the rules of the road, including speed limits, signaling rules and vehicle registration regulations, according to the vehicle code.
However, there are exceptions when unmarked vehicles can be used by law enforcement.
When are cops allowed to use unmarked vehicles?
Officers are allowed to use unmarked patrol cars when “investigating and securing evidence” of car theft, hit-and-run crashes, illegal street racing and felony crimes, or if they’re out serving a warrant.
As long as “the officer is not engaged in patrolling the highways for the purpose of enforcing the traffic laws,” California Vehicle Code says, they can wear plainclothes and drive unmarked cars.
This means officers can pull motorists over for speeding, unsafe lane changes and other traffic violations, as long as they are investigating possible crimes or collecting evidence.
“By California law ... it is legal for an unmarked car to make a enforcement stop,” CHP Officer Ruben Jones, public information officer for the agency’s Valley Division, told The Sacramento Bee.
However, it would be highly unusual for unmarked CHP cars to be used in a traffic enforcement stop, according to Lt. Matt Gutierrez with the CHP’s media relations office.
“If somebody does something extremely unsafe, 100% they can make an enforcement stop,” Gutierrez said. “But their purpose for being out there is not to patrol the roads full time.”
Typically, the CHP relies on undercover vehicles to conduct task force investigations, Jones said.
“It could be drug trafficking, human trafficking .... Auto theft is a very, very common (reason),” Jones said. “We also have our retail theft task force that could potentially make a stop with an unmarked vehicle.”
As of July, the CHP had a fleet of around 300 to 350 unmarked vehicles across California, according to Gutierrez.
What are ‘low-profile’ CHP patrol cars?
In May, the CHP deployed 100 specially marked ”low-profile” patrol vehicles on California freeways to crack down on “aggressive lane weaving, triple-digit speeds” and “video game-styled” driving, the agency said in a news release.
The Dodge Durango sport utility vehicles are designed to blend into traffic, making it more difficult for drivers to immediately detect the stealth vehicles, the CHP said.
The covert vehicles still feature antennas and the agency’s logo, but otherwise resemble mid-size sports utility vehicles.
How to identify law enforcement vehicles
State law requires all emergency vehicles, including patrol cars, to have at least one steady red light at the front.
According to California Vehicle Code, authorized emergency vehicles must have “at least one lighted lamp exhibiting red light that is visible, under normal atmospheric conditions, from a distance of 1,000 feet to the front of the vehicle.”
A constant red light is also present at the front of all CHP patrol vehicles, Jones told The Sacramento Bee.
If you’re being pulled over, you should look for that red light, Jones said.
CHP officers will also identify themselves, he said.
Most of the time, CHP officers will be in uniform or have markings on them indicating they are part of the California Highway Patrol, according to Jones.
However, in rare instances — such as auto theft investigations — officers may be in plainclothes, he said.
Do local police departments use unmarked vehicles?
Many police departments in California use unmarked vehicles to conduct law enforcement work.
How the covert cars are utilized differs depending on the department.
The Fresno Police Department does not use unmarked police vehicles for patrol or traffic enforcement, the department said in a statement to The Bee.
“Occasional traffic stops do occur with unmarked vehicles when officers observe such egregious driving, and they feel compelled to do a traffic stop for the safety of the general public,” Fresno police said. “These stops occur only if the unmarked police vehicle is equipped with emergency lights and sirens so they can be readily identified as a police vehicle.”
However, the primary purpose of the unmarked vehicles is to surveil criminal behavior without being identified as law enforcement, the Fresno Police Department said.
At the San Luis Obispo Police Department, unmarked police cars “are not typically in the process of pulling folks over,” Christine Wallace, the agency’s public affairs manager, told The Bee.
Wallace said unmarked vehicles are only used by SLO police detectives for investigative work — and those vehicles don’t look like normal patrol cars.
“They’re not outfitted like a regular patrol car with marking lights and sirens,” Wallace said. “They’re modified.”
A few months ago, she said, police officers used unmarked cars when arresting four San Luis Obispo residents on suspicion of operating a drug house.
Police discovered large amounts of methamphetamines, fentanyl, and LSD at the property, according to a SLO Police Department news release.
The unmarked police cars were specifically used to handle “activity happening at that house,” Wallace said. “It wasn’t randomly like, ‘Oh, that person’s going 70 in a 25 (mph zone).’ That’s not how that works.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Can an unmarked patrol car pull you over in California? What state law says."
