Traffic Control Vehicle - Cop Magnet?

[VanTrekker]

<img style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; display: block;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAACIc/G5nD5ETU1-Y/h120/Traffic+Control.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="157" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /><br />I spotted this curious vehicle tonight at McDonalds along First Avenue in Cedar Rapids - the busiest street in Iowa.<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-...AAACIU/ZW-j2tf2gtU/h120/Traffic+Control+2.jpg" alt="" /></div>There were several gas cans and a very loud generator on the back.&nbsp; All of the windows were blocked with cardboard or&nbsp;illegally dark (in Iowa) window tint.&nbsp; There no license plates visible on the front or the back of the vehicle.<br /><div>&nbsp;</div>The passenger's door was open and you could see one person watching a TV.&nbsp; The vehicle is labeled "Traffic Control" as if it is for construction flaggers or something.&nbsp; There is also a shield shaped logo that I was unable to make out.&nbsp; The SUV&nbsp;drew a lot of attention from the customers at Mc Donalds by the noisy generator as well as the people who were obviously watching TV in it... I saw them there this afternoon and they were still there at 9:00 PM.<br /><br />As i was leaving, the local drug cop cruised through the lot in her unmarked car, checking out the SUV.&nbsp; As I pulled away, I saw two black and white cop cars pulling in.<br /><br />I would love to know the story on this vehicle... Was it a construction flagger?&nbsp; Were it just people living in a vehicle (less likely)?&nbsp; Why were&nbsp;there no plates on the front or back?&nbsp; (that makes it a cop magnet)<br /><br />V.T.<br /><br /><div>&nbsp;</div>

 

[Ricekila]

A private company that services traffic lights ?<br /><br />One of those whack-o's live-in in a vehicle ?<br /><br />We gotta get you a longer lens <img src="/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif" alt="" align="absMiddle" border="0" />

 

[VanTrekker]

LOL.&nbsp; I snapped it with a camera phone.&nbsp;&nbsp;The somewhat sketchy, hillbilly looking guys I saw earlier around the truck didn't look like they could figure out how to push the "walk button", let alone fix a traffic light.&nbsp; There is a tremendous amount of road construction around town - they might be part of it.<br /><br />This morning I was told that the vehicle had to move on and it was relocated down the street a couple of blocks, pretty much out of sight.&nbsp;&nbsp;Jeff, the&nbsp;guy who lives behind McDonalds, said they apparently slept in it last night.&nbsp; <br /><br />In this&nbsp;poor area there also a number of&nbsp;permanent RV campers (most of the RVs are very old)&nbsp;on the streets and nobody seems to bother them much.&nbsp; Sometimes NOT being stealthy works out, too.&nbsp; One of those RVs has been parked there for months.&nbsp;