Cops based near Oxford in the UK have revealed that they are unable to to use flashing blue lights on their new electric car - in case it drains too much power from the battery.

The Thames Valley police force is testing out the £20,000 ($33,000) Mitsubishi iMiev in an effort to improve its environmental credentials. Apart from this quite obvious setback, they have been pleased with the silent, emission-free car, capable of travelling 100 miles on a single charge (with the lights off).

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LA County Sheriffs stuck driving Crown Vics are about to be left feeling tragically un-hip. Their Board of Sups just approved a deal with BMW to lease 17 fully electric MINI Coopers.

Approved on Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will lease the MINI Es for only $10 a month. With a market lease rate of $850, automaker BMW offered up the bargain price in exchange for deputy’s feedback.

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In a demonstration of increased surveillance on protest groups in Britain, police arrested 114 people for alleged conspiracy to commit criminal damage and aggravated trespass at a coal-fired power plant.

Huh? What kind of protest involves 114 people “conspiring” to enter and vandalize a power plant? Sounds like a few dozen were involved in logistics, and the rest had volunteered to go along for the ride. Does their willingness to participate really constitute conspiratory thought?

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A while back we posted about a bomb threat against the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s ship, the Steve Irwin. Well, the mystery has been solved: a drunk fisherman called in the threat on his cell phone from his ship across the harbor.

Kenneth James Archer admitted to calling in the threat because of a “dispute” with the crew members of Sea Shepherd. Police tracked him down because he made the call to the police from his cell phone.

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Apparently Turkish police have a biting sense of irony: they’ve sprayed protesters at the World Water Forum with high-pressured water cannons.

The forum, which occurs every three years, is supposed to focus on ways to eliminate water poverty across the globe, but protesters believe the forum takes a heavy-handed approach and supports construction of dangerous and environmentally-disastrous large dams.

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Around $10,000-worth of timber was confiscated from a lumber company after their illegal activities were exposed on their very own reality TV show on the History Channel.

Before we get into the details, let this sink in for a second: there’s a reality TV show that documents people competing to cut down trees. We’ve all seen some horrible television, but how on earth is this considered entertainment? Apparently 2 million people think so.

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In another case of Critical Mass road rage, the driver of a white SUV received nothing but a citation after ramming a cyclist during Washington, D.C.’s ride last night, according to witness accounts.

After the hit-and-run, bicyclists took off after the SUV, which tried to escape on the wrong side of the road. Police arrived shortly, and instead of arresting the driver, detained a cyclist who aggressively pursued the vehicle.

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Thanks to a freedom of information request by justice spokesman David Howarth, police have revealed a list of 2,000 items confiscated from protesters at the Climate Camp protest at England’s Kingsnorth coal plant last August.

A clown outfit, children’s crayons, soap, books, tents, bicycle helmets, and other seemingly random items were deemed “potentially harmful” by police at the scene.

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Police in southern Italy have this week launched a major crackdown on mafia activities following serious allegations of corruption over the awarding of building contracts for a Sicilian wind farm.

According to organized crime investigators, government officials were lavished with bribes, including luxury cars and cash, in an effort to ensure the contract — worth hundreds of thousands of Euros –was awarded to Mafia-backed businesses.

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In California, the CNG conversion qualifies Carl Tankersley to drive solo in those highly desirable diamond lanes. Yet, although he prominently displays his carpool and CNG stickers as required by law, that doesn’t seem to be enough to stop the cops from disturbing his 30 minute commute on a fairly regular basis.

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Two environmental activists were detained by the Tennessee Valley Authority police for photographing the site of last weeks ash spill. While it does not appear that they will be charged with crimes, they were unable to document the ash spill’s effects on the area and its water supply.

The men, who are from the Knoxville based United Mountain Defense, say that TVA has yet to release the water toxicity results. They say they have the right to take their own measurements and photographs unless TVA shows their results. “This is an issue of national importance,” said David Cooper. “People need to know if the water is safe or not.”

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Washington, DC’s Metro system recently enacted a random police search policy for its riders, citing increased security concerns for the decision. But in reality, the new policy does nothing to protect people from terrorist attacks and pushes people away from public transit and into cars.

Which is the bigger threat: a terrorist attack on a train or the greenhouse gases that spew from cars stuck in rush hour traffic?

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For almost two years, Canadian Marcelo da Luz has been driving his solar-powered car, the Power of 1 (Xof1 for short) across North America in an attempt to set a world distance record for a solar vehicle. When he reached Alaska earlier this week, the admittedly off-the-wall looking car was spotted by a concerned citizen, who dialled 911 to report a UFO sighting. Alaskan police quickly took off in hot pursuit, and pulled poor Marcelo over for interrogation.

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