License Plate Enforcement Successes

License Plate Enforcement Successes

Published on October 03, 2024

Missing Plates Remain High Priority

Example of plate on a vehicle stopped during special license plate enforcement

Denver - Thursday, October 3, 2024- Last week, the Denver Police Department Traffic Operations Division, in partnership with the Colorado State Patrol, Aurora and Colorado Springs Police Departments, enforced expired vehicle registration and expired temporary license plate violations along the Interstate 25 and Interstate 70 corridors.

During the weeklong enforcement in Denver, DPD Traffic officers cited 339 drivers for expired and/or fictitious license plates. Some of the oldest plates include May of 2019, August of 2021, July and October of 2022.

While the Denver Police Department exercised the clause in its low-level traffic stops policy to allow for this week-long targeted enforcement of expired registration and plates, vehicles with missing license plates are a high priority, are not subject to the low-level stop policy, and can prompt a traffic stop at any time. All vehicles in the public right-of-way must have a visible license plate. Any vehicle in the roadway without a license plate is considered suspicious and will be treated as such. Also, driving with more than a 90-day expired plate does not fall within the low-level stop policy, therefore, Denver Police officers are expected to stop those vehicles to investigate lawful ownership.

"Often times, suspects remove the license plate from a vehicle in an attempt to avoid detection when committing crimes," said Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas. "However, thanks to the capabilities of the Flock automated license plate reader network, we are still able to track vehicles associated with criminal activity. We will continue to treat vehicles with missing license plates with a high priority."

According to Denver Motor Vehicle, registration of newly purchased or acquired vehicles must be done in-person at DMV offices, and registration renewals must be done online or at a kiosk. Vehicle owners are reminded that while vehicle registrations have a 30-day grace period after expiration, temporary license plates do not have a grace period after expiration. For more information, please visit the Denver Motor Vehicle website.

License Plate Ordinance: Sec. 54-62. - License plates. License plate required. It shall be unlawful for any person to drive, stop, park or for the owner or person in charge of any vehicle to cause or knowingly permit to be driven, stopped or parked on any street or highway within the city or any property that is owned by the city, any vehicle that has been assigned a license plate or plates, pursuant to Colorado law, unless the license plate or plates assigned to the vehicle for the current registration year is properly attached to and displayed on the vehicle, in accordance with the laws of the state. "License plate" construed: For purposes of this section, the term "license plate" shall include license plates, number plates, personalized license plates, special license plates and other plates, both permanent and temporary, issued pursuant to Colorado law. (Code 1950, § 503.10; Ord. No. 122-85, § 1, 3-11-85; Ord. No. 51-06, § 3, 1-23-06) State Law reference- Registration and taxation of vehicles, C.R.S. 1973, 42-3-101 et seq.

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