Posted on Sunday, 15th March 2009 by Glenn D. Frankovis
Governor Jim Doyle wants to save taxpayer money by eliminating license plate registration stickers and reducing the number of license plates to one. This would save a little over $1.3 million according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn thinks it’s a good idea, but other law enforcement officials aren’t yet sold on the idea.
I do not believe it is a good idea. Let’s start with the reduction of license plates from two to one. Under Doyle’s proposal, the only license plate required on a motor vehicle would be the rear license plate. This would reduce an Officer’s ability to identify a stolen vehicle or one involved in a recent crime in which a license plate description was provided. For example, I recall an incident involving the theft of a microwave oven from St. Mary’s Hospital and a description of the suspect vehicle to include the license plates. St. Mary’s Hospital is located on the far east side of Milwaukee. My partner and I were on routine patrol at King Drive and North Avenue (a little over two miles west of St. Mary’s) when I observed the suspect vehicle stopped for the red light at King and North. I was able to identify the suspect vehicle by reading the front license plate and alerted my partner. We made the stop, arrested the suspects and recovered the microwave oven after obtaining a search warrant issued by E. Michael McCann upon my testimony. Had the one license plate change been in effect, I might not have been alerted to this car. There are numerous other examples of why two plates can help law enforcement officers reduce crime not to even mention how two plates make it easier for citizens to provide more detailed descriptions of law violators.
As for the registration plate stickers, it is true that certain parts of Milwaukee experience numerous thefts of these stickers to include whole parts of the license plate being broken off. These particular thefts are virtually impossible to solve unless you catch a suspect in the act of committing the crime. And there may be some, or even many, Departments with technical equipment capable of conducting almost immediate checks of license plates to determine whether or not they are properly registered. A small town Department may afford Officers the time to conduct spot checks of license plates for this purpose, however in a city the size of Milwaukee I cannot conceive of Officers having the time to ride around randomly checking plates to see if they are currently registered. They hardly have sufficient time to even check to see if license plates are stolen unless they stop the vehicle for an unrelated violation. The license plate sticker is just one more item which makes it easier for an Officer to perform his/her patrol function. But for those who may not see it that way, think about the fact that many Officers patrol alone in their squad car. An Officer working alone will now have to add one more distraction from operating the squad car in order to check license plates while on patrol. And for those civil libertarians reading this, just whose cars should the Officer be checking? How does the Officer make this determination? Is he supposed to check every car; every third car; every fifth car; an equal number of white drivers and black drivers? Just what criteria is the Officer supposed to employ? The fact of the matter is that after the complaints start pouring in about discrimination, Officers will not make any random checks at all. Now from the civilian perspective, if you are responsible and renew your registration faithfully, how do you know if others are doing the same? How many times have you driven around and observed expired registration stickers on cars and wondered why the cops aren’t stopping and ticketing those other drivers?
As for the rationale by the Milwaukee Police Department that the elimination of stickers will cut down on thefts, I agree. It will. With that rationale, maybe the Governor should eliminate Check Cashing places then since it is well known in Milwaukee that numerous crimes of theft and robbery occur in and around Check Cashing places. Why not legalize marijuana or other drugs? I can go on and on with this, but I think you should be able to get the point from what I’ve written.
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19 Responses to “Doyle wants to eliminate vehicle registration stickers and go to one license plate”
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March 15th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Texas reduced the problem of sticker thefts by moving them to the inside of the windshield.
March 15th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Just ban tin-snips from Home Depot, or require a current vehicle registration to by a pair. Problem solved.
Once you start thinking like a Lib life is so easy.
March 15th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
“buy”
March 15th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
What incentive will there be for anyone to renew their plates if there is no sticker of proof?? It is bad enough when people aren’t able to renew their plates in the month and a half time one has to renew their plates. That is of course if they haven’t accidentally thrown away their 4″ x 6″ renewal notice that looks like junk mail. This state is pretty lousy when it comes to plates. When any other state changes their plates it is done in one year, stickers have serial numbers, or like TerryN says that Texas has done, put them inside the windshield. Better yet, penalize harder people found using non valid stickers. If the market dries up because people don’t want to get caught with stolen stickers, less will be stolen. Besides, the thieves being released early from prison in the coming years will need something to do to get by.
March 15th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
I have to admit I’m often late on renewing my plates simply because, as mentioned above, the stupid renewal postcard looks like junk mail.
As far as the one plate two plate thing, I’ve been to enough places where one plate was the norm to know it isn’t a necessity for policework. Does it sometimes help? Sure. But is it worth $1.3 million and all the work hours used to enforce it? Probably not.
But while it’s purely anecdotal I must say Milwaukee seems very wishy-washy about enforcing the plate rule. For years I drove a car that had endured front end damage that made it impossible to post a front plate. Even when I was stopped for things like a broken tailight the officer never mentioned the lack of a front plate.
March 16th, 2009 at 4:01 am
Having no front plate on a car is easy PC to pull it over. And stickers make it easy most of the time to tell if a car’s registration is up to date. Eliminating both of those things would just make my job harder, since it would require more time just to see if a car has valid registration or not. Easily over 60% of the cars I pull over (when I’m not taking hitches), is because of registration violations.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:55 am
duh.
How to cure the sticker theft problem for good:
Print the plate number on them along with the year.
March 16th, 2009 at 10:09 am
What incentive will there be for anyone to renew their plates if there is no sticker of proof??
What incentive is there now? I know a woman in West Allis who didn’t renew her plates for six years; the fine when she was finally busted (pulled over for speeding) was less than six years of registration.
March 16th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
If Chief Flynn thinks it’s fine then that’s good enough for me. Maybe we won’t catch every microwave thief anymore but many other states do it. It will save us some money and stop sticker theft.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
I believe 48 other states allow concealed carry too, so I’d be willing to back off the sticker argument if Doyle would give us concealed carry. Hell, he’d even be able to make money off concealed carry permits. I see it as a win-win.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Years ago, I contacted my representatives asking that they go the NY Style. A printout on colored paper that sticks to the inside front window on the drivers side.
March 17th, 2009 at 6:41 am
Chief Flynn is all about the numbers. If this idea goes through, Flynn can boast that he cut thefts in the City by some large percent. More smoke and mirrors.
Why wouldn’t a police chief want to give his officers every tool available?
That money could be saved elsewhere…….like maybe better control of the daycares in this state. A few bucks flying out the window there.
March 17th, 2009 at 6:58 am
You’re right MvnOn. Any good street cop knows the value of the tools at his/her disposal. That’s what puzzles me about Flynn’s position on this. He has given me every indication that he was a good street cop in his days on the road, and that he remembers what it takes to be a good street cop, yet some of his recent decisions are troubling to me.
Kojo, I suppose I could have done the Democrat thing and embellished on my example of how two license plates made a difference way back when. I suppose I could have said the suspects had just committed a murder and the only plate available to the witnesses was the front plate. Would you have then said “maybe we won’t catch every murderer anymore…”?
March 17th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Flynn may have been a good street cop, but as chief, he has to be a bit of a politician and either agree on purpose or just to get along with real politicians “bright” ideas.
This one plate and no more sticker idea are an example of being penny wise and dollar foolish and directing the spotlight away from items that truly are wasting tax dollars.
March 18th, 2009 at 7:44 am
This is a mistake by Doyle and here is why…
As I was driving through FIB-Land the other day, I went right through the toll plaza with my I-Pass. When I pass all of the electronic sensors I noticed that they are right next cameras taking snap shots of the vehicles as they pass through. Part of the the double check and also part of an anti-theft program - if an IPass is stolen and then used - you get the plate of the vehicle that used it. There are cameras for both the front and rear of the vehicle. Why? Because rear plates can be obstructed too easily with snow, plate covers, trailers, bike racks, etc. So a picture is also taken of the front plate.
When Doyle institutes Toll Roads in WI to help pay back WEAC or for his new health insurance initiative, there will be sensors and an IPass system like every other toll road in the country. Doyle will have to re-institute the front plates for the system to work properly.
I agree with others that there are better ways to solve the problem…
1. Print the plate number on the sticker.
2. Make the registration sticker bigger and have it affixed to the rear window
3. Make plates with a bi-annual registration so with the expiration stamped into the plate. Every two years you get new plates. This is what just about every state (Including WI) does for heavy equipment (tractors & trailers)
4. Ban cars - they are bad for the environment. That also will give smokers one less place to smoke. But still charge everyone who owned a car $100 sin tax every year for past green house emissions sins…
March 19th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
When Doyle talks about doing something like this out of a sense of fiscal responsibility, he has as much credibility as does Barney Fwank on the mortgage crisis.
Doyle drove this state over $5 billion into the red, he needs to come up with some real cuts…not merely pay lip service to the problem.
March 24th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Wow Clint, that is the most dumbfound thing i have ever heard. Charging people for their past greenhouse emissions is like charging your for all the garbage you have discarded and what of it has been put into landfills. You sir are ridiculous.
March 24th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
As the U.S. falls behind in the world and countries like China pass us up we will see many bills such as this in the future. We might as well get used to saving money where we can. I personally support this bill because I see the front license plate as not only a waste of money, but also a waste of resources (aluminum). We americans are so spoiled that we think we deserve our SUVs and a front license plate to go with them. I’m totally with the conservatives and libs on this one, save the taxpayer’s money AND save the environment. Get rid of the stupid license plate. Get the damn police out of the donought shops. Walk around the car already!! The exercise will do you some good!!
March 29th, 2009 at 8:38 am
Left-behind license plate leads to arrest in hit and run
By Sharif Durhams of the Journal Sentinel
Mar. 28, 2009 | A Madison man was arrested Saturday and accused of hitting a cyclist with a car after investigators found a license plate that was left at the scene of the wreck.
The 34-year-old Madison man was arrested on suspicion of hit and run causing great bodily harm, the Dane County Sherriff’s Department said.
The cyclist was hit Friday night on Highway M near Borchers Beach Road in the Town of Westport, the sheriff’s department said. The cyclist was taken to the hospital, but his injuries were not life threatening, deputies said.
Investigators discovered a front-license plate was left at the scene and tracked down the driver and vehicle Saturday, the release said.