The Dubai Police department has just added the Porsche 918 Spyder to its fleet of police cars. Yes, the 918 Spyder.->ke3629 It’s become old hat for the country’s police force to add supercars->ke177 and luxury cars->ke505 to its garage, but this one’s on another level. It’s one thing to dress up a Lamborghini Aventador or an Audi R8->ke1440 with the country’s official police garb; it’s another to do it on a limited-run, hybrid->ke147 supercar. That’s just flexing your arm for the sake of showing off those muscles.

In any event, the dressed up, white 918 Spyder was unveiled at the 2015 Dubai Motor Show->ke4025 wearing the traditional dark green liveries of the Dubai police force. No other modifications were made because there’s really no point in doing so. Seeing a Porsche 918 Spyder in this cosmetic configuration is all the car needs to emphasize the fact that, outside of its counterparts in Abu Dhabi, there isn’t a police department that can boast the kind of police cars that the Dubai police has.

Granted, none of these supercars - not the Aventador, R8, or this 918 Spyder - will ever be used for actual police duty. A close look at the Porsche->ke1 hybrid exotic even reveals the absence of police lights on the roof. Instead, the 918 Spyder will be used extensively for marketing purposes, similar to how its predecessors were used when they were first unveiled. It may be a publicity stunt for all intents and purposes, but make no mistake, this the Dubai Police’s way of telling people what it’s capable of when drivers disobey motoring laws in the country.

Who knows, if a reckless driver proves to be too difficult to catch for the department’s regular police cars, it may just unleash this bad boy on the unsuspecting perp.

Continue reading for the full story.

Why it matters

I’ve been a fan of the Dubai Police’s roster of exotic police cars, even thought I know that the chances of seeing these supercars in action are slim to none. But outside of the Bugatti Veyron police car, this is the only other time where I felt that the police force is doing this for bragging’s sake. Sure, a Porsche 918 Spyder that’s been dressed up in police gear is pretty exciting to see, but I don’t think it’s necessary anymore given how many times the Dubai Police has done something similar in the past.

At this point, I get it. That department isn’t running out of finances anytime soon so it can pull stunts like this without any repercussions. But, I think it’s gotten old and the department could use whatever money it spends on stunts like this for things that are more worthwhile like, say, actual police stuff. That said, I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen anytime soon. A lot of people are still eating this up and I can’t blame them for it. I was like that in the beginning, at least until I found out that these police cars were being used strictly for headlines and not actual police functions. I’m even willing to bet that at some point in the future, a Ferrari LaFerrari->ke4626 and a McLaren P1->ke4608 will “join” the ranks as well. Who knows, we might even get to see photos of the three hybrid supercars, posing side-by-side in the now unmistakable white-and-green liveries of the Dubai Police.

I just don’t see the point anymore. I think the department has better things to do than satisfy its own vanity. But that’s just me. I don’t expect this to stop anytime soon, not when other supercars are coming into the market as we speak. Ferrari, for instance, has the 488 GTB in the pipeline. I’m sure the Dubai Police will have one of its own in no time.

But, until the department starts using these cars for actual police duty, I’m not going to get excited seeing any more exotics added to this fleet.

Porsche 918 Spyder

Read our full review on the Porsche 918 Spyder here.