Safety

Friday’s Headlines: Have a Smashing Fourth Edition

To celebrate America's 250th birthday, here's some Squad Car Porn for your holiday Friday. Regular headlines will return on Monday.

By Gersh Kuntzman

12:01 AM EDT on July 3, 2026

Friday’s Headlines: Have a Smashing Fourth Edition

This should have been New York's entry. The Streetsblog Photoshop Desk (Statue of Liberty by Confaulk via Wikipedia CC)

Nothing reveals the law enforcement community’s obsession with muscle cars and trucks like Squad Car Porn.

And no outfit is better at providing it than the American Association of State Troopers, which, in advance of our national 250th birthday celebration, is asking Americans to vote for their favorite police “cruiser.”

Seriously, all 50 states have entered their police squad cars or bull-barred SUVs in this 13th annual contest, and, frankly, the cars and sport utility vehicles are no match for the settings in which state police agencies have posed their beauties.

Check out some of our “favorites”:

Georgia

Kansas

Is this a cop car or one of those NASA moon vehicles?

Louisiana

Maryland

Mississippi

North Dakota

We can’t put our finger on it, but something is bugging us about this.

We think the whole thing is ridiculous, but we’re not so repulsed that we wouldn’t at least give you a chance to play along. Vote here.

And have a great holiday weekend, whether you’re driving to the beach, the mountains, some lightning-filled Mississippi parking lot … or taking the subway like the rest of us.

We’ll have a full slate of news clips on Monday.

Gersh Kuntzman

Tabloid legend Gersh Kuntzman has been with New York newspapers since 1989, including stints at the New York Daily News, the Post, the Brooklyn Paper and even a cup of coffee with the Times. He's also the writer and producer of "Murder at the Food Coop," which was a hit at the NYC Fringe Festival in 2016, and “SUV: The Musical” in 2007. He also writes the Cycle of Rage column, which is archived here.

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