History Main / FlashedBadgeHijack

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* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': {{Exploited}}. Matarael's attack coincides with a city-wide blackout, leaving the military with no way to warn NERV. Hyuga, however, happens to be topside and hears about the situation from an overflying military airplane. As he is looking for a way into the Geofront, the political loudspeaker truck chooses that moment to show up, so he uses his authority as NERV's {{Bridge Bunn|ies}}y to commandeer it and drives right into the command center to warn everyone.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* In ''FanFic/{{Sluagh}}'', Neville attempted to do this to a Muggle with his ''wizard'' Auror badge. It worked the first time as it was too dark to see the badge properly. The second time the Muggle assumed it was a joke until Neville transfigured a teacup into a gerbil in front of her.

* Played for laughs in ''Film/ArmedAndDangerous1986''. Creator/JohnCandy's character resorts to this when his motorcycle won't start. He tries several times, but no one will budge, partially because he's only a security guard and not a cop. Finally, a truck driver lets him in and is more than happy to help.

%%* Played for laughs in the movie ''Film/TurnerAndHooch.''

* In Creator/DanAbnett's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}} novel ''Literature/BrothersOfTheSnake'', Space Marines hijack a Princess Royal's car. She tries to stop them until the Inquisitor who summoned them intervenes, and she runs off. An Inquisitor's rossette is possibly one of the most dangerous objects in the galaxy. Mainly because it gives them the authority to do pretty much anything they like up to and including forcing entire armies and fleets under their direct command or blowing up entire planets. This said, most of them are actually pretty careful in how they exercise such power.

* In ''Literature/{{Thud}}'', Vimes uses his badge to hijack a coach but, despite the coachman's enthusiasm for trying to leap the Ankh, is forced to abandon it and cross a bridge on foot, before Carrot shows up having hijacked a mail coach and taken a shortcut through a park. He's also, to Vimes's horrified admiration, closed two major roads to give them a clear run. And not to catch a villain, but because Sam Vimes, whatever else happens, has to read ''Literature/WheresMyCow'' to Young Sam at exactly six o'clock.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode "The Law":

''[scene changes to the Donut Cop, Darwin, and Gumball on a kiddie ride]''\\

* ''Film/TheFirstPower''. Detective Logan does this while fleeing the BigBad. Unlike other examples the driver tries to argue the point, but a masked madman dropping onto the roof of his car and smashing the windshield cuts short his objections.

* Played for laughs in the movie ''Film/TurnerAndHooch.''

* In Creator/DanAbnett's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}} novel ''Literature/BrothersOfTheSnake'', Space Marines hijack a Princess Royal's car. She tries to stop them until the Inquisitor who summoned them intervenes, and she runs off.
** In other works in the 40K universe, an Inquisitor's rossette is possibly one of the most dangerous objects in the galaxy. Mainly because it gives them the authority to do pretty much anything they like up to and including forcing entire armies and fleets under their direct command or blowing up entire planets. This said, most of them are actually pretty careful in how they exercise such power.
*** To summarise, they can FlashedBadgeHijack superheavy tanks, entire armies, even ''planetary populations'', if necessary.

* Also spoofed in the comedy film ''Film/TheNakedGun'' when the car the cop commandeers is occupied by a student driver and instructor.
** The doctor, under mind control, hijacks a car to get away first and exclaims "medical emergency!" before tossing the occupant.

* In the Year of the Snake DLC in ''Videogame/SleepingDogs'', Wei can do this if he wears a cop uniform.

The bad guy is fleeing the scene of the crime in a vehicle, and our hero officer is without his or her car at the moment. No problem, he just hops in front of the next car that comes down the street, flags it to a stop, flashes his badge, and commandeers the vehicle.

* In ''Film/{{SWAT}}'', Hondo commandeers a limousine full of prom-bound teenagers to pursue French mob boss Alex Montel after he escapes custody.

* TruthInTelevision: [[WeAllLiveInAmerica Most]] [[EagleLand states]] have laws that allow law enforcement officials to commandeer civilian vehicles, though the owners can refuse with minimal consequences (technically, the consequences are there, but they're unenforced). In addition, owners have the right to be compensated for the use of their vehicles, up to and including any gas used and damage sustained, though often, it doesn't happen (certain states, like Texas, are more likely to enforce right of compensation). The Supreme Court has limited the situations in which the police may do this. It's not something a cop can do whenever they feel like it. They will need to document the situation and their justification for doing so ''in detail'' afterwards, as such an action ''will'' be [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome scrutinized by their superiors for potential abuse of authority and likely opening up the department to possible legal action from the car's owner]]. So while a law enforcement officer legally ''can'' take your car, it very rarely happens in real life due to the paperwork and liability involved.

-->"Dan Marino should ''definitely'' buy this car. Well, not ''this'' one, cause I'm gonna fuck this one up. But he should get one ''just like it''."

* ''Film/LethalWeapon4'' played this for laughs during a foot chase. Murtaugh, unable to keep up with Riggs and their fleeing target, goes over to a guy with a bicycle, flashes his badge, and tries to commandeer the bike. The guy refuses to let go of the bike, and Murtaugh, having no time to waste, grabs a wad of 20 dollar bills from his pocket, shoves them into the guy's hand, then rides off. As soon as Murtaugh leaves the guy who was standing by the bike pockets the cash and calls out to an offscreen friend "Hey Johnny, somebody stole your bike!"

** The doctor, under mind-control, hijacks a car to get away first and exclaims "medical emergency!" before tossing the occupant.

* Subverted in the movie ''Film/SoIMarriedAnAxeMurderer'', when a cop stops a passing motorist, but can't get him to give up his vehicle. He has to settle for getting a ride from the driver to the crime-in-progress.

* In Creator/DanAbnett's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}} novel ''Literature/BrothersOfTheSnake'', Space Marines hijack a Princess Royal's car. She tries to stop them, until the Inquisitor who summoned them intervenes, and she runs off.

* The 2016 ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' / ''Series/NewGirl'' crossover partly revolves around this trope. In the ''Brookyln Nine-Nine'' episode "The Night Shift", Detective Jake Peralta flags down a car so he can pursue a fleeing perp, and the car turns out to be driven by Jess Day from ''New Girl'', who is in New York for an unrelated reason (Jess demands Jake prove he's a real cop by naming ''one'' law. Jake says "Murder is illegal," which results in Jess admitting she set the bar way too low). The corresponding ''New Girl'' episode "Homecoming" shows the scene from Jess's point of view and then follows up on what happens to her after Peralta accidentally crashes the car during the pursuit.

* ''Series/TheMentalist'': In "Fire and Brimstone", Jane abandons Lisbon on a beach en route for his final confrontation with Red John. Lisbon flags down a car, flashes her badge at the driver and commandeers the car to go after him.

** There's a different take on this when Detective Carter grabs someones' coat to dodge some CIA men who were following her.

* The Judoon Captain tries this on an Earth police car in ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures''. He gets away with it, not because the police recognise his authority, but because he's a seven-foot rhino-person with a ray gun. He fails to realise this, and thanks them for their co-operation as they run.

* After one of his teammates is capture in ''Series/StargateSG1'', Lt. Colonel Mitchell commandeers a man's motorcycle to give chase. The man was even nice enough to give Mitchell his helmet.

* In ''VideoGame/LegoCityUndercover'', Chase is able to flash his badge and blow a whistle to make cars stop, and taking a car from someone else is always accompanied with Chase saying it's for police business.

* Happens all the time in ''WesternAnimation/{{Fillmore}}'' with bikes, scooters and, in one case, a floor buffer.

* TruthInTelevision: [[WeAllLiveInAmerica Most]] [[EagleLand states]] have laws which allow law enforcement officials to commandeer civilian vehicles, though the owners can refuse with minimal consequences (technically, the consequences are there, but they're unenforced). In addition, owners have the right to be compensated for the use of their vehicles, up to and including any gas used and damage sustained, though often, it doesn't happen (certain states, like Texas, are more likely to enforce right of compensation). The Supreme Court has limited the situations in which the police may do this. It's not something a cop can do whenever they feel like it. They will need to document the situation and their justification for doing so ''in detail'' afterwards, as such an action ''will'' be [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome scrutinized by their superiors for potential abuse of authority and likely opening up the department to possible legal action from the car's owner]]. So while a law enforcement officer legally ''can'' take your car, it very rarely happens in real life due to the paperwork and liability involved.

* The 2016 ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' / ''Series/NewGirl'' crossover partly revolves around this trope. In the ''Brookyln Nine-Nine'' episode "The Night Shift", Detective Jake Peralta flags down a car so he can pursue a fleeing perp, and the car turns out to be driven by Jess Day from ''New Girl'', who is in New York for an unrelated reason. The corresponding ''New Girl'' episode "Homecoming" shows the scene from Jess's point of view and then follows up on what happens to her after Peralta accidentally crashes the car during the pursuit.

* The movie VantagePoint has a bizarre example, as the Secret Service agent confiscates a vehicle while in another country where he has no jurisdiction.

* The 2016 ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' / ''Series/NewGirl'' partly revolves around this trope. In the ''Brookyln Nine-Nine'' episode "The Night Shift", Detective Jake Peralta flags down a car so he can pursue a fleeing perp, and the car turns out to be driven by Jess Day from ''New Girl'', who is in New York for an unrelated reason. The corresponding ''New Girl'' episode "Homecoming" shows the scene from Jess's point of view and then follows up on what happens to her after Peralta accidentally crashes the car during the pursuit.

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

* Played for laughs in ''Film/HollywoodHomicide'', where Creator/HarrisonFord's character is in pursuit and tries the badge-flashing on a car driver - it doesn't work. He then resorts to [[HeroStoleMyBike hi-jacking a kid's bicycle]].

* In ''Film/Speed2CruiseControl'', the same guy ends up getting his boat commandeered by a member of the LAPD - in the middle of the Caribbean (The man points out how inherently absurd this is as it happens). But it ends better for him this time - not only is the boat still intact at the end of the movie, he ends up finding the parcel of stolen diamonds floating in international waters. He wouldn't get to keep them, but under international maritime salvage law, he'd be entitled to 10% of their value from the owners for their return.[[note]]The backpack, floating about unattended in the water, clearly falls under the definition of cargo in peril. There's no risk in retrieving it, however, nor was the rescue difficult. The only additional factor for consideration is cost and how easily the jewelry could be replaced (not very). While 10% is considered a base value for salvage value, the rarity and irreplaceable nature of the jewelry could push the salvage value higher. The catch is that if the owner(s) press the issue, saying he has no claim, then his only option is to turn the jewelry over to the US Marshal's office and try to file a lien against the owners. Odds are, though, the insurance company would just fork over 10% and be grateful it wasn't more.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/LANoire'', the player character does this to commandeer occupied cars. Unoccupied cars he will just steal without flashing his badge. [[spoiler: Hilariously, this works even when you play as Jack Kelso, who is an ''insurance investigator''... and you can do this to ''cops in a squad car''!]]

* Played for laughs in ''Film/ArmedAndDangerous''. John Candy's character resorts to this when his motorcycle won't start. He tries several times, but no one will budge, partially because he's only a security guard and not a cop. Finally, a truck driver lets him in and is more than happy to help.