Front Page News

The plate-cover crackdown that we've been telling you about made front page news this afternoon.
According to the Albuquerque Tribune, APD has written over 500 citations in the last few months to motorists that choose to protect their license plate and their rear-end with plate-covers. The story asks the question, "are they really illegal?"

Our research indicates that there is no direct language that outlaws plate covers. (Read our take here and here.) The Tribune article featuring your friendly neighborhood Eye, asks the question but Assistant City Attorney Greg Wheeler told the Trib, "It hasn't been tested. The law was clearly meant to apply to the human eye, but I think that it could evolve to include a camera."

Evolve?! What Mr. Wheeler apparently means, is that the city hopes that a judge will rule that a plate that restricts a license plates viewing angle to the height of a human is an obstruction. Or perhaps he hopes that the council will move to create an ordinance that protects the scam-era revenue.

Either way cracking down on license plate covers is clearly designed to protect revenue, not lives.

----- Eye Alert -----
If you're near a radio or reading this blog Monday afternoon tune into 770 KKOB. Jim Villanucci is ripping the scam-era system with data from a county source that indicates that accidents at photo enforced intersections have steadily increased since the system's installation. You can listen live at http://www.770kob.com/KKOB_OnlineRadioStream.html.

Northeast Drivers Beware

No we aren't referring to drivers in New York or Boston (although you take your life in your own hands every time you put your foot on the peddle while driving in those urban paradises). We're talking about drivers right here in River City (AKA Marty's Magic Kingdom).

Not only does the Northeast Heights have the dubious distinction of being the first part of town to have the red-light scam-eras installed, but now the Northeast Area Command is enforcing the Schultz no plate cover edict with something close to a religious fervor.

Recently promoted Captain Bill Henz is making sure that his troops zealously enforce Chief Schultz's commandment by confiscating license plate covers that foil the "infallible" scam-eras.

(Sidebar)
Captain Henz is a recent promotion to Captain who replaced now Deputy Chief Kevin McCabe as commander up in the Northeast. Our Eyes tell us that Captain Henz was so "loved" by the officers he was chosen to command that during the most recent bid, all of the senior officers in the area command transferred out leaving behind officer who didn't have enough seniority to choose somewhere else.

Don't take this the wrong way... the new officers in the Northeast work hard, but simply don't have the experience to judge whether or not and enforcement edict sent down from on high (the 5th floor) is a legal order or not. They simply follow orders as one would expect them to do.
(End Sidebar)

The real problem here is that confiscation of property (license plate protectors) could very well be illegal. The New Mexico traffic code does not outlaw license plate covers, regardless of what Chief Schultz maintains. (We explained our position here.) As long as the plates are clearly legible from 100 feet at night, your plate is considered legal according to New Mexico law. Further, there is no city ordinance that we're aware of that outlaws the practice of protecting your license plate (and your behind) with one of these scam-era protection devices.

So, confiscating a license plate cover that leaves your plate clearly legible by law enforcement could easily by considered larceny. We're not hanging this one on the officers of the Northeast Heights - they're just following orders. We're placing the blame upon the people who should know better, namely Captain Henz and Chief Schultz.

Currently, we have no knowledge of a judge making a judgment regarding the plate covers with respect to their legality (The Legislature has most definitely been silent on the issue). And our Eyes tell us that judges will often dismiss charges without prejudice rather than making a precedent setting decision. Therefore, the written law can and is being interpreted by people like Chief Schultz who know that they can get away with it until some other authority (either legislative or judicial) weighs in.

We'd love to see someone whose plate cover was confiscated file larceny charges against Chief Schultz and Captain Henz. After all the Constitution guarantees us the right not to be deprived of life, liberty, or property with out due process of law.

Making Up the Rules as You Go

Deputy Busted Over Plate!
(We had to add the exclamation point)

So declares Wednesday's Albuquerque Journal (Subscription Required). The first line of the front page top of the fold story reads "[i]t didn't take a red-light camera to catch a Bernalillo County sheriff's deputy breaking the law." Seems that a nefarious Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deputy has been caught with one of the plate covers that make viewing the license plate underneath difficult for Marty's scam-era system.

So what's the problem? Well, we can't find a law that was broken - if the cover in question was similar to the ones we've seen so much of around Albuquerque. According to the State of New Mexico traffic code:

66-3-14 B. Each registration plate shall have a background of reflective material such that the registration number assigned to the vehicle is plainly legible from a distance of one hundred feet at night. The colors shall include those of the state flag, except prestige and special plates.

Or if you prefer:

66-3-18 A. The registration plate shall be attached to the rear of the vehicle for which it is issued; however, the registration plate shall be attached to the front of a road tractor or truck tractor. The plate shall be securely fastened at all times in a fixed horizontal position at a height of not less than twelve inches from the ground, measuring from the bottom of the plate. It shall be in a place and position so as to be clearly visible, and it shall be maintained free from foreign material and in a condition to be clearly legible.

Now we're not an attorney, but it looks pretty obvious to us that the New Mexico traffic code doesn't say a thing about protective covers for license plates as long as the registration number is clearly visible from a distance of 150 feet.

A few months back we seem to remember APD spokesman John Walsh claiming that the license plate cover and sprays were ineffective when pitted against the superior technology of Marty's red light scam-eras. Well, well, well... looks like we were being treated to a bit of mis-information from APD's public information officer.

Now they're trying to make us buy that plate covers are illegal. We told you that APD was trying to "crack down" on all of those sinister drivers utilizing the scam-era invisibility shields. In fact they cited section 66-3-18 as the basis of their enforcement. Read the traffic code for yourself... where exactly does it prohibit license plate covers?

(Sidebar)
One of our Eye readers emailed us and let us know about APD's "enforcement" effort. They received a ticket (the first we've heard of) from an officer and plans to fight the citation in court. We asked them to let us know how the judge rules.
(End Sidebar)

It's obvious that Marty's scam-eras are seeing an awful lot of these plate covers and their use is cutting into revenue. It's also obvious that revenue concerns are now driving law enforcement. So what if we don't even have a law that prohibits the use of the plate covers... we'll just "enforce" the law the way we want to. Who needs legislatures, or even courts for that matter... we've got money to make!

We hope Sheriff White has the good sense not to discipline the deputy involved, particularly if his license plate was plainly visible from 100 feet at night as is required by law. In fact, we would suggest making the plate covers standard issue for those deputies that spend any time driving through Martyville.

Beefing Up Enforcement on License Plate Covers

We just got our eyes on an APD department memorandum that instructs all sworn personnel to "strictly enforce" violations of traffic law regarding plate covers. You know those very popular plate protectors that protect your plate from the elements and your uh... behind from being photographed by one of Marty's candid cameras. According to the memo:

"As a matter of public safety, personnel are encouraged to strictly enforce violations of the State of New Mexico Traffic Law Manual regarding the obstruction of license plates. The appropriate statue is 66-3-18, Display of Registration Plates and Temporary Permits and Plates; Displays Prohibited and Allowed. Enforcement of this statute will assist law enforcement personnel in identifying suspects of crimes including, but not limited to: hit and run accidents, traffic offenses, auto thefts, burglaries, and robberies, where officer safety is of utmost concern."

We agree that a police officer needs to be able to easily read a motorists license plate and that it is a legitimate safety issue for officers. However, we've noticed these license "protectors" popping up all over town and can't help but believe that they're starting to cut into profits over at Marty's toll booth center.

Our information is that you can have a license plate cover as long as the plate beneath it is clearly visible from a distance of one hundred feet. It will be interesting to see if APD actually starts writing citations for obstruction of license plates. Our Eyes tell us that despite the official line that must be towed by officers in uniform, officers are generally against the red light camera program and as long as these covers don't pose a threat to officer safety...