Whether it’s to chase wrongdoers on the highway, to perform various tasks for which speed is of the essence, or simply because some police divisions have way too much money to spare, there are some police officers patrolling the streets and highways in vehicles that wouldn’t be out of place in the garages of the world’s billionaires.

10. Porsche Panamera – $175,000

When it comes to making significant investments, you usually have to choose between quality and quantity, carefully trying to strike a balance between the two. Unless you have the kind of resources Qatar has, in which case you can buy an entire fleet of Porsche Panamera luxury cars for your police force. And to add a little bit of muscle, you add some Porsche Cayennes on top of that.

Qatar didn’t have any trouble completing such a huge deal, either, as the nation’s sovereign fund used to be an important stakeholder in Porsche and still owns a sizeable amount of shares in Volkswagen Group.

9. Lamborghini Gallardo – $248,000

Back in 2004, Lamborghini donated a couple of Gallardos to the Italian State Police.

When you have the fastest police car in the world, you don’t use it to patrol narrow streets at night or to setup road blocks. Instead, the Gallardo was fitted with equipment needed in case of emergencies (first aid and hi-tech communications equipment), in order to take advantage of the vehicle’s incredibly quick response time. With a top speed of 192 mph (309 km/h), you could even argue it would be slower to bring in a helicopter than one of these awesome sports cars.

8. McLaren MP14-12C  – $230,000

This McLaren MP14-12C is part of the incredible fleet of vehicles recently assembled by the Dubai police force – something we’ll be saying a lot as we go through this list.

The British supercar features a twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 engine which outputs 616 horsepower, allowing it to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in a blistering 2.8 seconds. It is painted in the local police colors (white with a green stripe through the middle), while its plate number reads “2020”, a nod to the fact that Dubai will host Expo 2020.

7. Lamborghini Huracan – $250,000

After a previous deal involving a couple of Lamborghini Gallardos, the Italian police and the luxury car brand continued their excellent partnership with the latter donating a special edition Huracan LP 610-4 sports car.

Unlike other highly expensive police cars which are mostly for show, the Italian State Police actually uses its super-vehicles, which are fully equipped for the job. This new Huracan comes with state-of-the-art tracking and video recognition systems, as well as a refrigerated trunk for organ storage, in case there’s a medical emergency, a situation in which a 200-mile-an-hour can is certainly handy.

6. Ferrari FF – $400,000

As we will see, Dubai’s police force has an auto fleet that would impress even the wealthiest collectors in the world. Another one of the very expensive toys patrolling the streets of the opulent city is a Ferrari FF. The Italian grand tourer can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in just 3.7 seconds, on its way to a top speed of 208 mph (335 km/h), making it the world’s fastest four-seat car. Even so, it’s unlikely it will ever be used in a chase, as the police has it on patrol in tourists areas, so if you’re ever near the Burj Khalifa and you find yourself breaking the law, you might just be hauled off to jail in a Ferrari FF.

5. Lamborghini Aventador – $450,000

Another member of Dubai’s amazing armada of luxury police vehicles is this Lamborghini Aventador. As all law enforcement cars in the affluent Emirati metropolis, it is painted green and white, which shouldn’t distract you from the fact that it is a real beast on the road. Powered by a V12 engine which outputs 690 bhp, the Aventador accelerates from naught to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds and can reach a top speed of 217 mph (350 km/h).

Aside from the random high-speed chase through the desert, the car is used as a motorized sign of opulence, something which the Emiratis really like to display.

4. Audi R8 GTR – $500,000

Created by the tuning specialists over at Abt, the Audi R8 GTR Polizei is definitely not the vehicle you’d want to see in your rear-view mirror if you know you’ve broken the law.

This impressive police car has all the features of a great custom sports car: carbon fiber parts to reduce weight, Recaro racing seats, stainless steel rollover bar, police light bar, reflective paint, and a 5.2 liter V10 engine which churns out 612 hp (an almost 100 hp increase compared to the standard model), allowing the vehicle to accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in just 3.2 seconds.

3. Mercedes-Benz Brabus Rocket CLS – $580,000

Based on the Mercedes-Benz CLS, the Brabus Rocket is the result of a collaboration between the German Federal Traffic Ministry and the Association of German Automobile Tuners (VDAT) and was actually created as part of a program to promote safe and legal turning practices.

The vehicle looks great and is extremely powerful (720 hp and a top speed of over 227 mph, electronically limited to 250 mph), but if that isn’t enough to convince you convince you to follow to rules, maybe the thought that German police has something like this to chase you with will.

2. Bugatti Veyron – $1.6 million

As we near the top of the list we find ourselves once again in Dubai, where the local police also has one of the fastest, most expensive cars ever made: the Bugatti Veyron.

Like most other high-end police vehicles cruising the streets of Dubai, this Veyron isn’t really meant to chase criminals. For one thing, it would be a very short chase, as this police car can reach an incredible top speed of over 250 mph (more than 400 km/h) and boasts breakneck acceleration, as it goes from 0 to 62 mph in 2.46 seconds. Thus the Bugatti Veyron is more of a symbol of wealth than an actual useful piece of equipment – but we don’t really think anyone there is complaining.

1. Aston Martin One-77 – $2 million

The Aston Martin One-77 hyper-car is an extremely exclusive item. Only 77 of them were ever made, each priced at about $2 million.

Take a moment to let that sink in. A car so rare and pricy that even the super-rich find it hard to acquire one and the Dubai police force gets it as a show of wealth. And unless you expect to chase the kind of villains Batman usually deals with, you don’t actually need a car that can reach 220 mph. Still, there’s no better deterrent than knowing the police is willing and able to throw vast amounts of money into catching people who break the law – so it’s almost worth it, right?