Tuesday, December 7, 2010

New license plate tabs should help prevent theft


The Missouri Department of Revenue recently announced an innovation in license plate tabs that aims to reduce tab theft, a very common crime in Kansas City. These “enhanced security tabs”  display a vehicle’s unique license plate number directly on the tab itself, thereby enabling police to quickly and easily detect whether the tab on the vehicle matches the license plate, according to the Department of Revenue.

In addition to printing the unique license plate number directly on the tab(s) in a large, easy-to-read font, the tamper-evident tab with stretch-release adhesive makes the tabs more difficult to counterfeit.

Several steps have been taken in recent years to make license plate tabs more difficult to steal in Missouri. The tabs were moved to the center of the plates so thieves could not simply cut them off the corners. They also were segmented so they would come apart if someone tried to remove them. This latest innovation will help officers immediately spot a stolen tab. Check out the Department of Revenue's web site for more information about the enhanced security tabs.

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