BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2489
Author: Hall (D)
Amended: 8/22/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 7-1, 6/26/12
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Harman, Lowenthal, Pavley,
Rubio, Wyland
NOES: Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Kehoe
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/14/12 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Obstruction or alteration of license plates
SOURCE : Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Los Angeles Professional Peace Officers
Association
Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department
DIGEST : This bill prohibits a person from altering or
covering a license plate in order to avoid law enforcement
reading the license plate with a camera.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/22/12 add double-jointing
language with AB 2679 (Assembly Transportation Committee)
and resolve chaptering conflicts with SB 1144 (Strickland).
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AB 2489
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ANALYSIS : Under existing law, when the Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV) issues license plates for a vehicle,
those plates must be securely fastened to the vehicle so
they do not swing, be mounted in a position to be clearly
visible, and maintained in a condition so as to be clearly
legible. Typically, a driver or vehicle owner cited for
displaying an altered plate receives a fix-it ticket. To
resolve this fix-it ticket, a person must show a peace
officer that the vehicle in question now has an unaltered
license plate, have the peace officer sign the ticket, and
then return that ticket with $25 to the court.
Existing law also expressly prohibits installing on a
vehicle any casing, shield, frame, border, product, or
other device that obstructs or impairs the reading or
recognition of a license plate by an electronic device
that state or local law enforcement, a toll collection
facility, or the state's smog check program uses. A
citation for violating this provision carries a fine of
$25, which with additional assessments results in a total
penalty of $194. It is also illegal to sell such a product
and existing law imposes a fine of $250 for each sale of
such a product, which results in a total penalty of $1,080
per sale.
This bill:
1. Prohibits a person from operating a vehicle with any
casing, shield, frame, border, product or other device
that obstructs or impairs the reading or recognition of
a license plate by an electronic device that state or
local law enforcement, a toll collection facility, or
the state's smog check program uses.
2. Prohibits a person from erasing the reflective coating
of, painting over, or altering a license plate in order
to avoid visual or electronic capture of the plate by
law enforcement.
3. Prescribes a penalty of up to $250, which with
assessments is a total penalty of $1,080, for violation
of either of these prohibitions.
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4. Contains double-jointing language with AB 2679 (Assembly
Transportation Committee).
Comments
Purpose of the bill . The author introduced this bill in
response to a growing problem in Southern California of
individuals scratching or lacquering over the reflective
white backing of vehicle license plates to avoid detection
by law enforcement's cameras and scanners that read license
plates.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department began deploying
automatic license plate recognition cameras in 2007. The
cameras are mounted to the light bar on patrol cars so that
when the patrol car travels along a roadway the cameras
automatically read license plates of all vehicles that
enter the camera's view. The on-board system then checks
the plates against a database of stolen vehicles, vehicles
used in crimes, and wanted persons associated with those
vehicles. When the camera spots any such vehicle, the
on-board system instantly notifies the deputy driving the
patrol car. To be able to read license plates, the cameras
scan and translate the numbers and letters on the license
plate using an optical character recognition program. The
system additionally takes a date and time stamped
photograph of vehicles and registers the exact location
where the vehicle was photographed using global positioning
system technology.
Law enforcement agencies throughout the country use these
cameras, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
reports that it currently has over 70 mobile license plate
reader systems and 21 fixed systems deployed in Los Angeles
County. Law enforcement officials claim that these systems
have been instrumental in locating stolen vehicles and
apprehending criminals. Investigators also use information
derived from these systems to determine the whereabouts of
stolen vehicles so that they can be traced and located.
Proponents report that criminals have become aware of this
technology and are altering license plates to defeat it.
The author introduced this bill to address this issue by
increasing the base fine for this act from $25 to $250,
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which increases the total penalty from $194 to $1,080.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/22/12)
Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (co-source)
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (co-source)
Los Angeles Professional Peace Officers' Association
(co-source)
Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs
California Fraternal Order of Police
California Peace Officers Association
California Public Parking Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Riverside Deputy Sheriffs Association
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs Association
Santa Ana Police Officers Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/14/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino,
Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wagner,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Atkins, Fletcher, Perea, Valadao
JJA:m 8/23/12 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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