San Francisco wants to abolish illegal license plate covers
A suspect speeds through city streets while trying to evade police and, with the push of a button next to the driver’s seat, lowers an opaque screen over the car’s license plate.
It sounds like a cartoonish device that the Joker might use to thwart Batman, but it’s very real – and readily available online for around $50.
It is illegal to use such a gadget in California and also illegal to sell one. But that hasn’t stopped people from taking to Amazon, Walmart, eBay and even Etsy to sell a variety of products intended to make license plate numbers invisible to shoppers across the state.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has a large number of these devices in his wood-paneled office at City Hall. And on Wednesday he plans to announce that he will demand that the four companies remove the products from their websites.
“It sounds like something out of Gotham City, and it shouldn’t be legal anywhere in America,” Chiu said. “The product descriptions themselves, as well as their customer reviews, make it abundantly clear that these are products used for illegal activities.”
The gadgets include remote-controlled devices that allow drivers to lower screens over their license plates; vinyl packaging with numbers hiding the real ones; and cloudy screens that can be placed over boards to make it impossible to read their numbers.
They can be used to bypass bridge tolls, red light cameras and speed cameras, which will be allowed in San Francisco and a few other California cities starting next year. Chiu said his lawyers found comments in product reviews like “Works well for running from the police” and “These products are great for evading law enforcement!”
Many of the most common crimes in San Francisco involve cars. Every 15 hours someone is seriously injured in a car accident on city streets. The number of car burglaries, often committed by thieves sitting in stationary cars, has increased since 2011; Nearly 17,000 have been reported this year.
A newer crime that police call “ram raids” involves driving a car into a store window, filling the vehicle with stolen goods and then speeding off. Car thefts and sideshows are also common.
Chiu said he had never heard of the license plate covering devices until San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott expressed his frustration with them at a public safety meeting in June.
“My first thought was, ‘Where are they selling these?’” Chiu recalls. “The chef said, ‘Oh, you can just go on Amazon.'”
Some states allow the devices when cars are parked, to protect license plates from the elements, Chiu learned. But in most states, including California, they are “flat out illegal,” he said.
He added that he was surprised to see the products even spreading on Etsy, a site better known for handmade goods.
“They are artisan license plate covers,” said Deputy City Attorney David Louk.
Spokespeople for Etsy, eBay and Amazon said sellers on their sites had to comply with all laws and that the sites removed illegal items when notified. Walmart did not respond to a request for comment.
Chiu said he was hopeful the four sites would proactively remove all devices, but declined to say what action he would take if they didn’t.
“These are illegal to sell and use, and these online marketplaces should know that,” he said.
Where we travel to
Today’s tip comes from Jennifer Oke, who lives in San Diego:
“My favorite place for both cliff top walks and beach walks is Torrey Pines State Wildlife Refuge. This is one of the few places where you can find Torrey pines, the rarest pine tree in the country. The erosion of the cliffs has beautiful contours.”
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We will share more in future editions of the newsletter.
Tell us
Today we ask about love: not whose you like but What you love your corner of California.
Email us a love letter to your California city, neighborhood or region – or to the Golden State as a whole – and we might share it in an upcoming newsletter. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com.
And before you go: good news
When Pellier Park in downtown San Jose closed just a year after its planned opening in 1977, the agricultural park’s fate looked bleak. But now, after forty years and much delay, the park has reopened and is a long-term home in the city’s growing network of communal green spaces.
The brainchild of San Jose historian Leonard McKay, the park was built in honor of Louis Pellier – a founder of California’s plum industry and commonly known as the Prune King – on the site of his home and plant nursery.
The park first opened in the 1970s, funded in part by McKay’s fundraising, but closed soon after because the city did not have the resources to maintain it. An early 2000s plan to restore and expand the park was delayed for years by financing problems and a long redesign process.
Those plans finally became a reality last month with the official reopening of Pellier Park during a public ceremony in San Jose. The renovated park is shaped like a plum and includes historically relevant details such as a French plum tree and a photo wall chronicling Pellier’s contributions to the region.
Pellier Park is the latest in a series of historically focused parks that recently opened in San Jose, including Heinlenville Park. Read more about the history of Pellier Park.
Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow.
PS Here it is today’s mini crossword.
Soumya Karlamangla, Maia Coleman and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team via CAtoday@nytimes.com.
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