Special license plates shield officials from traffic tickets

ZzzZz

I always knew it! Mother-f'n they're above the law -- yeah, "professional courtesy"

Where do I sign up?!


Special license plates shield officials from traffic tickets


Some police officers confess that when they pull over someone with a confidential license plate they're more likely to let them off with a warning. In most cases, one said, if an officer realizes a motorist has a confidential plate, the car won't be pulled over at all.
"It's an unwritten rule that we would extend professional courtesy," said Ron Smith, a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer who worked patrol for 23 years. "Nine out of 10 times I would."

Many police departments that run red light camera programs systematically dismiss citations issued to confidential plates.
"It's a courtesy, law enforcement to law enforcement," San Francisco Police Sgt. Tom Lee said. "We let it go."

Since then, the list of people afforded confidentiality has swelled to include jail guards, district attorney investigators and National Park Service rangers, as well as city council members and city attorneys, among others. -- from police dispatchers to museum guards - who face little threat from the public. Their spouses and children can get the plates, too.

Officials can keep the secret plates when they retire. If they change to a civilian job, they can stay shielded for another three years.
In some cases the secret plates have been negotiated as part of a labor contract. For example, museum security officers were added as part of an employment agreement with the state's public safety union in 2001.