How well do you know your license plate number? If you don't know it, you might want to check yours to ensure they belong to your vehicle. There has been an increase in license plate thefts throughout the County which are being affixed to stolen vehicles or switched for plates from stolen vehicles, and some vehicle owners are not aware that they are falling victim to this until they are pulled over by police. License plates are often stolen from those vehicles that closely resemble a stolen vehicle. Reporting your stolen license plate to law enforcement is not enough to combat these trends. Stolen license plates that are reported to law enforcement are entered into the same database that is checked by Automated License Plate Reading cameras. If you are still driving your vehicle with that 1 remaining plate, you are alerting these cameras every time you drive by them. Car thieves are counting on this to draw attention away from them! It is important for vehicle owners to know what their license plate number is and to ensure that their front and rear license plates are for their vehicle. You can also help by replacing that 1 remaining plate with a new set of license plates from the DMV. The Lakeport Police Department will soon begin strictly enforcing California's 2 license plate requirement to better protect your vehicles from theft, and speed up the recovery of vehicles that are ultimately stolen.
