Police Car Coloring Pages – 36 Free PDFs to Print and Color

Police cars have a way of grabbing a child’s attention the moment the lights start flashing, and this collection of 36 free printable coloring pages lets that excitement carry over to the table. From a simple cruiser rolling down a quiet street to a detailed scene at an accident or a roadblock, there is a sheet here for nearly every age and skill level. Grab some crayons or markers, pick a favorite picture, and get ready to color a fleet of patrol cars, K9 units, and motorcycles.

Browse the 36 Free Police Car Coloring Pages

Every page in this gallery is free to print at home or in the classroom. Just click on the picture you like to open the full-size PDF, ready to print on standard A4 paper. The sheets range from very easy outlines with big, simple shapes for young children to detailed, busy scenes for older kids and adults who want more of a challenge. Scroll down to find your favorite.

The Patrol Car in Action

Police Car on a City Street

A police sedan with a light bar and push bumper drives down a city street past a traffic light, street lamps and row houses under drifting clouds.

Police Car Under the Sun and Clouds

A four-door police sedan with a roof light bar sits on the ground under a big shining sun and two puffy clouds in bold, simple shapes.

Police Car Taking a Mountain Curve

A police cruiser with a push bumper and light bar takes a curve on a mountain road, passing a guardrail, a curve sign, bushes and hills under puffy clouds.

Police Roadblock Under an Overpass

An officer raises a hand to stop a line of cars while a police car blocks the road behind a barrier and three traffic cones, with city buildings and a bridge above.

Police Officer at a Street Accident Scene

A police officer sets up a warning triangle beside a patrol car with its door open. Behind them are a tow truck, a dented car, broken glass, a flare and a crowd behind barrier tape.

In the City

Traffic Officer Directing Cars at a Crosswalk

At a crosswalk, an officer holds up one hand to stop traffic, with a parked patrol car, a bus, shops with awnings, a traffic light and pigeons on a wire nearby.

Police Car Patrolling a Store Parking Lot

A patrol car drives through a supermarket parking lot with a coffee cup forgotten on its roof and a shopping cart in front, near parked cars, the store and trees.

Police Officer Walking Children to School

A smiling police officer holds up a hand to stop traffic and leads four children with backpacks over the zebra stripes in front of their school, a patrol car and bike rack waiting behind them.

Police Car Head-On Between Two Tall Buildings

A police car faces straight ahead with its light bar on the roof, windshield, headlights and grille drawn in bold, easy shapes, two rounded buildings and a big sun behind it.

Two Officers on Foot Patrol by a Shop

Two police officers walk side by side past a shop with a striped awning and a plant in the window, a parked patrol car, a tree and a fire hydrant beside them.

In the Country and on the Highway

Police Car on a Country Road Past the Farmland

A police car kicks up dust on a winding country road past plowed fields, tall cypress trees and a farmhouse, with wheat stalks and a milestone in front.

Police Car Following a Truck on the Highway

Lights flashing, a police car drives behind a big truck on a highway, under an overhead sign, with streetlights, hills and a rumble strip along the grassy roadside.

Police Officer with a Speed Camera on a Country Road

Next to a parked patrol car, an officer aims a speed camera on a tripod, with hedges, a farm gate and a wind turbine behind them on a gravel road with tire tracks.

Police Car Crossing a Stone Bridge by a Mill

An officer drives a police car over an arched stone bridge above a flowing river, with an old stone mill, its water wheel and leafy trees in the background.

Police Officer Visiting a Farm

Beside a patrol car, an officer talks with a farmer in a busy farmyard with a dog, chickens, a tractor, hay, rope, a big barn and a windmill under the clouds.

The Station and the Garage

Two Police Cars Parked Outside the Station

Two police cars are parked in front of the station, one with its trunk open showing a first aid kit and traffic cones, a flag and radio tower behind them.

Police Car Getting Washed at a Car Wash

Covered in soap bubbles and dripping water, a police car rolls under a big spinning brush, with a hose and puddles across the floor.

Police Car on a Lift in the Repair Shop

On a lift, a police car with a roof light bar gets worked on from below by a mechanic in overalls, surrounded by tire stacks, a pegboard of tools and a tray of wrenches.

Police Dispatcher at the Radio Console

A dispatcher sits at a desk with three monitors, a microphone, a phone and a headset, a wall map nearby and a patrol car parked outside the window.

Police Cars Lined Up at the Station Garage

Four police cars with push bumpers and light bars stand in a row outside the station garage, with a radio tower, a fence, a traffic cone and a rippling puddle in front.

Other Police Vehicles

Police Motorcycle Parked in Front of a Patrol Car

A touring police motorcycle with a windshield and saddlebags stands on its kickstand near trees, in front of a patrol car with a light bar and an arrow painted on the road.

Police Van Parked by a Bus Stop

A police van with a light bar, window grilles and a ladder on the back doors is parked beside a bus stop, a tree, shops and paving stones along the curb.

Police Helicopter Over a City Rooftop

A police helicopter with a searchlight hovers over a rooftop with a windsock, while a small police car drives below the city skyline among tall buildings and clouds.

Bike Patrol Officer in a City Park

A smiling bike patrol officer holds a helmet next to a mountain bike with saddlebags, near a park gate, a fountain, fallen leaves, a bench and a parked police car.

Police Van Parked by a Tree

A simple police van with a light bar on its roof is parked beside a leafy tree under a single cloud, its big wheels and windows ready for color.

Fantasy and Kawaii

K9 Police Dog Leaping from a Patrol SUV

Leaping from the open back door of a police SUV, a German shepherd in a harness lands on a grassy training field with a bite sleeve, jumps and a fence nearby.

Police Car on Winter Patrol in a Snowy Village

Snow falls on a police car with tire chains parked in front of a village church, snowy houses and a tall pine tree, a glowing street lamp and boot prints in the snow.

Police Officer Giving a Girl a Balloon at the Fair

A smiling officer hands a balloon to a happy girl beside a police car, with a carousel, a striped stall, bunting and a dropped ice cream cone at the fair.

Police Car Waiting for a Duck Family to Cross

While a police car waits beside a park pond with trees and a gate, a mother duck leads five ducklings across the road in a feathered parade.

Police Rover on the Moon

A police car with a roof light bar and huge off-road tires patrols a cratered moon, next to a lunar lander, a flag, a satellite dish and a striped planet.

Smiling Kawaii Police Car with Hearts and Stars

A cute police car with big eyes and a smile sits on the road under fluffy clouds, hearts and stars.

Bear Officer Waving from a Police Car

From the window of a patrol car on a forest road, a smiling bear in a police cap waves past pine trees, a signpost and floating hearts.

Two Smiling Cartoon Police Cars

Two cheerful police cars with big eyes and friendly smiles sit side by side under a bright sun and two puffy clouds.

Patterns and Mandalas

Police Car Mandala with Cones and Wheels

A front-facing police car sits at the center of a round mandala, framed by rings of whistles, badges, traffic cones, light bars and wheels.

Zentangle Police Car With Patterned Panels

A side view of a police sedan covered in zentangle patterns: a grid, dots, swirls, hexagons and waves across every panel, with a light bar and wheels.

Police Light Bar Filled with Patrol Cars and Stars

A big police light bar holds four patrol cars, houses, street lamps, traffic cones and dozens of stars in tiny scenes throughout.

Getting to Know Police Cars

A police car is the everyday vehicle that officers use to patrol streets, respond to calls, and keep an eye on traffic. It looks like an ordinary car because, underneath the lights and paint, that is exactly what it is. Understanding a little bit about where these vehicles came from and how they work makes coloring them even more fun.

A Short History

Before cars existed, police officers got around on foot or in horse-drawn wagons, which made it hard to catch anything moving faster than a walk. That changed in 1899, when the city of Akron, Ohio put the first motorized police vehicle into service, a battery-powered electric car. It was faster than anything it needed to chase, and it set the pattern that every patrol car since has followed.

Where the Words Come From

The word police traveled a long road to get to English. It came through the French word police, which came from the Latin politia, which in turn came from the Greek politeia, meaning the administration of a city or state, rooted in the word polis, or city. The word patrol has a more physical origin. It comes from the French patrouiller, which originally meant to slog around in the mud. Even the informal American word cruiser for a patrol car was borrowed from the navy, where it once described a fast, far-ranging ship.

How to Tell a Patrol Car From an Ambulance or a Fire Truck

All three of these vehicles use flashing lights, but their shapes give them away. A patrol car is a regular passenger car, a sedan, wagon, or SUV, with four doors, a flat light bar stretched across the roof, an outside mirror on each side, and a spotlight mounted near the front door pillar. Its overall length is roughly two and a half to three times the diameter of its wheels, and the wheels reach about halfway up the height of the body, just like on any normal car. An ambulance, by contrast, has a tall box body so a stretcher can fit inside, and a fire truck carries a pump, hose compartments with roll-down doors, and a ladder on top. Many patrol cars also have antennas on the roof or trunk lid and a partition behind the front seats.

The lights mean something specific, too. Flashing lights alone are a warning to be careful. It is only when the lights are paired with the siren that every other driver is required to clear the way immediately. Sirens used to be produced mechanically, by a spinning disc that generated sound as it turned. Today the wailing, rising and falling tone usually comes from an electronic speaker mounted behind the front grille, often with several different tone patterns the officer can switch between.

Colors are not the same everywhere, so there is no single right answer when it comes to painting these cars. In Germany, patrol cars have mostly been blue and silver since the mid-2000s, after decades of green and white before that. In the United Kingdom, they are usually white with a yellow and blue checkered band called a Battenburg pattern. In the United States, black and white or dark blue are the most common combinations. The bright panels on a patrol car are usually not paint at all but reflective tape, which bounces light back at another car’s headlights and helps make the vehicle visible at night. And if a coloring page ever needs a number on a badge or door, two real emergency numbers are worth knowing: 110 has been the standard police number across Germany since 1973, and 112 works anywhere in the European Union.

Before You Start Coloring

For the cleanest results, print these pages on plain white A4 paper, at least 80 gsm, so pencils and lighter markers do not bleed through. Set your printer to fit the page or actual size rather than shrink to fit, and choose the highest quality black and white or draft setting your printer offers, since these sheets are line art and do not need color ink.

For very young children, start with the simplest sheets, the ones with big shapes and few small details, since these are easiest to color with crayons or chunky markers and to stay inside the lines. School-age kids will enjoy the sheets showing a patrol car in action, on an intersection, or pulling up to a roadblock. Older kids and adults who want a real challenge should look for the detailed scenes, the mandala-style patterns, and the busier station and garage pictures, which reward colored pencils and fine-tip markers.

After Coloring: Craft Ideas

• A bedroom gallery wall. Punch holes along the top of a few finished pages and string them along a ribbon, or simply tape them up in a row above a desk.
• A homemade birthday card. Fold a colored page in half, or glue a small colored cutout onto a blank card, for an instant police-themed birthday or thank-you card.
• A classroom community helpers display. Pin finished pages to a bulletin board alongside pages of firefighters and paramedics to talk about the different vehicles each one drives.
• A keepsake coloring book. Punch holes along one edge of several finished sheets and tie them together with string or ribbon to make a one-of-a-kind coloring book to keep or give as a gift.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these police car coloring pages really free?

Yes. All 36 pages in this collection are free to download and print, at home, at school, or anywhere else, for personal and classroom use.

What age are these pages for?

The collection covers a wide range of ages. The simplest sheets suit toddlers and preschoolers, the medium sheets suit school-age children, and the detailed scenes and mandala patterns give older kids and adults something more challenging to work on.

What colors are correct for a police car?

There is no single correct color scheme, since real patrol cars vary by country. Blue and silver, green and white, black and white, dark blue, or white with a yellow and blue checkered band are all accurate choices depending on which country’s police car you have in mind, so feel free to pick whichever combination you like.

Can I use these pages in a classroom?

Yes. Teachers are welcome to print these pages for students, whether as part of a community helpers unit, a quiet activity, or a reward. Just click the picture you want and print as many copies as you need.

What file format do the pages come in, and how should I print them?

Clicking a picture opens a printable PDF sized for A4 paper. Print at actual size on plain white paper for the best results, and use a black and white or draft setting since no color ink is needed.

What is the best way to color the more detailed pages?

Colored pencils and fine-tip markers work best on the busier scenes and mandala patterns, since they allow more control in small spaces. For the simpler pages, crayons or broad markers work well and are easier for younger hands to manage.

Matthew Matthysen( Drawing and Painting Artist )

Matthew Matthysen is an educated multidisciplinary artist and illustrator. He successfully completed his art degree at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, majoring in art history and contemporary drawing. The focus of his thesis was to explore the philosophical implications of the macro and micro-universe on the human experience. Matthew uses diverse media, such as written and hands-on components, to explore various approaches that are on the border between philosophy and science.

Matthew organized various exhibitions before and during his years as a student and is still passionate about doing so today. He currently works as a freelance artist and writer in various fields. He also has a permanent position at a renowned online gallery (ArtGazette) where he produces various works on commission. As a freelance artist, he creates several series and successfully sells them to galleries and collectors. He loves to use his work and skills in various fields of interest.

Matthew has been creating drawing and painting tutorials since the relaunch in 2020. Through his involvement with artincontext.org, he has been able to deepen his knowledge of various painting mediums. For example, watercolor techniques, calligraphy and lately digital drawing, which is becoming more and more popular.

Learn more about Matthew Matthysen and the Art in Context Team.