Quote Originally Posted by Ronin13 View Post
I see more instances of LE orgs erring on the side of punishing crime instead of proactively preventing it. However, on the flip side of that coin, most cops I know would rather have their presence known and prevent a crime than have to make an arrest/write a ticket/give a warning.
^Bingo.

Marked units help deter and prevent crime from happening. Unmarked units only help catch them in the act.

Here's my case... I grew up in Woodland Park. We would go to Colorado Springs regularly. Do you know what stopped us from speeding down the pass? It was the fact that we saw a marked car damn near every time. Now if I hadn't noticed any police cars in a while (conceivably because they were unmarked) then I got the impression that there weren't any police regularly clocking traffic so you bet we would travel a little faster down the pass.

Marked cars created a presence and stopped us from speeding because I knew they were going to be there. Unmarked cars' presence is unknown so it only served to catch you in the act, not deter you.

What's better? Preventing it from happening with a visual presence or catching them while it's happening with a hidden presence? I vote the former...