AbsentEmpire OP t1_iwuloth wrote
Good article from the Inquirer on how truly fucked the situation is.
Some highlights:
>criminal trades, what’s new is the flood of fraudulent temporary tags into Philadelphia from states with looser issuance rules — like Texas and Delaware. These phony plates have shown up increasingly in police investigations into shootings, carjackings, hit and runs, and car thefts. (In addition to counterfeit plates, thefts of auto tags this year to date were 2,378, a more than 60% increase over the same period in 2018.)
...
>Philadelphia police officials acknowledge the department lacks automated plate readers and other technology to trace cars with faked tags. Nor does it log incidents of forged plates, or track those used in multiple crimes.
>Law enforcement agencies elsewhere are battling the surge of phony plates. Texas recently overhauled its car tag regulations and penalties following reports of a “tagdemic” that may have put 1.2 million fraudulent plates into circulation. Some have since appeared in far-away murders and human trafficking cases. New York City began sweeping neighborhoods for fake out-of-state tags earlier this year, and last month police in Yonkers pulled 42 “ghost cars” off the streets.
...
>Delaware printing hundreds of thousands of temporary plates into circulation made fakes even harder to spot and legitimate tags easier to steal — but it is hardly the only state with a fraud problem.
>An NBC News investigation in Washington, D.C., disclosed a surge of bogus Maryland, New Jersey and Texas tags. The Lone Star State also deployed a print-on-demand system, but one so easy to manipulate that out-of-state residents were able to register fake car dealerships and issue more than half a million fake tags.
...
>So far, there does not appear to be efforts to crack down on the issue locally.
>“They don’t want to talk about it because it’s embarrassing,” Giacalone said.
>Some police officers blamed relatively light penalties for emboldening the sale and use of bogus tags. Possession of a fraudulent license plate in Pennsylvania is a summary offense — essentially a fine — while making, selling or knowingly possessing forged plates is a misdemeanor.
Paparddeli t1_iwuq4p9 wrote
Thanks for posting this. This really should be something the US Department of Transportation should get involved in. Or maybe a lawsuit by the PA AG's office against Delaware and the other states with the bogus temporary tag system.
AbsentEmpire OP t1_iwvjnzf wrote
There was even more in the article about how screwed up Delaware and Texas are regarding paper plates, PA should absolutely take action against them if possible.
courageous_liquid t1_iwuqfts wrote
> that may have put 1.2 million fraudulent plates into circulation
1.2 MILLION CARS WITH FAKE TAGS. Even for texas, that's absolutely insane.
Indiana_Jawns t1_iwv8j8m wrote
Could just be 1 car with 1.2 million fake tags.
courageous_liquid t1_iwv9gqw wrote
James Bond is real and lives in Texas.
justanawkwardguy t1_iwvws2s wrote
The whole point of the article is that they're not actually in or from Texas
courageous_liquid t1_iwvx032 wrote
He's the local mastermind that figured it out, duh. MI6 is onto us.
Indiana_Jawns t1_iwvaf1w wrote
Felix Lighter gets no love
[deleted] t1_iwvan8j wrote
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SomeBug t1_iwycz06 wrote
1.2 cars with 1 million tags
baldude69 t1_iwuqd8a wrote
> “They don’t want to talk about it because it’s embarrassing,” Giacalone said.
Good, they should be embarrassed. This shit is fucking embarrassing.
> Some police officers blamed relatively light penalties for emboldening the sale and use of bogus tags. Possession of a fraudulent license plate in Pennsylvania is a summary offense — essentially a fine — while making, selling or knowingly possessing forged plates is a misdemeanor.
I guess we should probably change those laws. Seems like the kind of thing that would probably get enough bipartisan support to pass
AbsentEmpire OP t1_iwvjs5t wrote
Cars caught with fake plates should be impounded on the spot.
baldude69 t1_iwvliam wrote
Completely 100% agree. Super likely it’s being used in the commission of some type of crime, and at best it’s making our insurance rates go higher. No reasonable excuse for using fake tags.
AbsentEmpire OP t1_iwvq53v wrote
Agree 100%, there is literally zero excuse for this, it should have zero tolerance by the state as the only reason someone would do this is to break the law.
It directly endangers everyone else in society.
[deleted] t1_iww74k3 wrote
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baldude69 t1_iww79jo wrote
Yep, hence my second comment “at best it’s making our insurance more expensive”
No excuse for this behavior
TreeMac12 t1_iwvljtf wrote
Tinted windshield? Also, straight to jail
AbsentEmpire OP t1_iwvqk5n wrote
Agree, that shit is illegal, there's no valid reasons to do it, and it endangers everyone else on the road.
Cars that can not pass inspection such as for tint should not be on the road, and impounded on the spot if caught.
ipissexcellence21 t1_iww5xed wrote
They were until they changed the live stop program. Note instead of towing the car they have to leave it parked like the person can’t just come back and get it.
frazell t1_iwxj5xk wrote
Philly has Live Stop which requires exactly this. PPD is MIA though so that won’t ever happen.
[deleted] t1_iww609e wrote
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baldude69 t1_iww75n3 wrote
Doesn’t do any good if the cops aren’t pulling people over for it
schizocosa13 t1_iwv1gh4 wrote
Definitely given me some ideas to make some extra cash. /s
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