Seventy percent of all crimes involve a motor vehicle – and remembering license plate numbers can be tricky for witnesses.
A Pennsylvania lawmaker has a solution.
They’re called EZ-ID license plates, and instead of numbers they incorporate symbols, like stars or hearts, and only four characters.
It’s easier for witnesses to spot and remember, and if they only have a partial description it’s quicker for law enforcement to narrow down suspects.
State Representative Mike Regan held a briefing on the plates at the Capitol on Thursday.
“If you’re in a shopping mall and you see somebody throw a kid into the trunk of a car and drive away, you’re under stress. Remembering those letter-number combinations is very difficult,” explained Regan. “This is designed to make it very easy to at least get a partial tag.”
The EZ-ID license plates were invented in Massachusetts a decade ago. They’re in the very early discussion stage here in Pennsylvania.