Lawmakers: Don't stop drivers for missing front plate

COLUMBUS – Lawmakers want police to stop pulling over drivers for missing a front license plate – the reason a University of Cincinnati police officer gave for stopping Sam DuBose.

Rep. Anthony DeVitis, a Summit County Republican, introduced a bill Tuesday to make missing a front license plate a secondary offense. Police would have to stop a driver for a more serious offense before citing him for a missing plate. Other examples of secondary offenses include adults not wearing their seat belts or drivers not having headlights on while using their windshield wipers.

DeVitis' proposal also would cap the fee for a missing front license plate at $100 and prevent police from ticketing a legally parked car for simply missing a front license plate. He has introduced similar legislation in the past only to have it defeated by opposition from law enforcement, which sees the front license plate as an important tool in policing.

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In Cincinnati, the push to remove or limit front license plate offenses has a face: DuBose. In July 2015, former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing stopped DuBose for missing a front license plate before shooting the unarmed man. Tensing's first trial on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter ended in a hung jury.

Even before DuBose's death, a small group of lawmakers was pushing to eliminate the front license plate or make a missing plate a less serious offense. Nineteen states, including Indiana and Kentucky, do not require front license plates. Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles estimates Ohio could save $1.4 million spent on creating and distributing license plates if the state ditched the front plate.

"It would put us on a level playing field with our surrounding states," DeVitis said.

But law enforcement has opposed any efforts to stop pulling drivers over for missing front license plates or axing them altogether. Police see front license plates as an important tool in identifying drivers who speed by stopped school buses or flee more serious crimes.

“The front license plate is a key tool," Ohio Department of Public Safety Director John Born told lawmakers earlier this month. "Like any other tool, that tool can be misused.”

Still, lawmakers like Rep. Alicia Reece, D-Roselawn, say pulling drivers over for a minor offense strains goodwill between police and the community. Other times, Cincinnati residents don't realize a front license plate is needed in Ohio because neighboring states don't require them.

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Reece wants to eliminate front license plates entirely by adding a ban into the state transportation budget. It is not clear if her Republican colleagues, who control the Ohio House and Senate, will approve that move over the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio's objections.

"My first wish is to get rid of the front license plate altogether," Reece said. But if that fails, "this bill would be a good compromise."