This KCBS radio listener in San Francisco couldn’t believe it. “The Mustang stopped right in front of me in a long line and suddenly I saw its license plate disappear under a black screen, it took less than two seconds. The plate was replaced with this screen. The driver sped away, overtaking everyone and crossing the intersection, accelerating at full speed…”
The increase in such incidents has become such a serious problem in San Francisco, the most European of American cities, that legal authorities have had to intervene. Last week they sent a formal notice to major online retailers such as Amazon, Walmart and Ebay, demanding that they ban the sale of all such devices that make it impossible to identify vehicles involved in crimes. A first here.
“These license plate covers are illegal because, among other things, they are designed to facilitate illegal conduct and evade prosecution,” said the letter sent to dealers by state Attorney General David Chiu. “The descriptions of the products themselves, as well as customer reviews, clearly show that these are products used for illegal activities. » And in fact, on sales pages we can read rave reviews like “Works well for evading the police” or “Perfect for evading the police”…
Remote control cover, vinyl covers or opaque screen…
One of the gadgets targeted by authorities that KCBS listener noticed is particularly ingenious. All you have to do is press a simple remote control button installed next to the driver and the cover will be lowered onto the panel in a second and a half, watch in hand. Cost of the device: 50 dollars, just under 55 euros. But there are also vinyl cases with numbers that hide the real numbers or display fake ones for as little as $10. Or an opaque screen that obscures the plate to the point where it is no longer readable. Less demanding, but very effective.
All of these devices can be used to commit crimes, but also to bypass red light cameras, toll booths and, of course, speed cameras (which will only be used in San Francisco and a few other California cities starting next year). “Perpetrators often flee in vehicles, and when we can’t recognize license plates, we’re at a huge disadvantage,” Police Chief Bill Scott said during an Oct. 31 news conference.
San Francisco’s chances of becoming a victim of a property or violent crime are about 1 in 16 each year, argues the Hoover Institution, a conservative group, making the city more dangerous than 98 percent of American cities, large and small. However, most crimes in San Francisco involve drivers, most commonly hit-and-runs. And last year, almost 17,000 car thefts were registered there, a record. The sales locations have promised to investigate the problem.