Pink Plates Proposed For Sex Offenders

Yellow Plates Already In Use For Drunken Drivers

Personally, I think day-glo orange plates might be better, but anything that gets the message out is good I guess.


From Officer.com, story originally by nbc4i.com


Pink (car license) Plates Proposed For Sex Offenders

Yellow Plates Already In Use For Drunken Drivers

POSTED: 5:33 p.m. EDT April 27, 2005
UPDATED: 7:59 p.m. EDT April 27, 2005





COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Some Ohioans convicted of drunken driving can be seen driving vehicles with yellow license plates. If one Ohio lawmaker has his way, sexual predators could soon have to drive vehicles with pink license plates, NBC 4's Erin Tate reported.
The bright yellow license plates help law enforcement officers recognize drivers with multiple DUI convictions.
"We've sold over 16,000 in the past five years," said Fred Stratmann, of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
The pink plates could help notify police -- and parents -- of another type of offender.
"It identifies them," said Rep. Michael DeBose, (D) 12th District. "The primary reason they can prey is because they're camouflaged from who they really are."
DeBose introduced a bill this week in the Ohio House suggesting mandatory pink license plates for sexual offenders so children know to stay away, Tate reported.
"There's such a problem -- around rec centers, parks, school yards," he said. "There's no way to identify them and to protect children."
DeBose wants tough penalties for sexual predators who try to disguise themselves by removing their plates.
The Ohio Department of Public Safety isn't sure a sexual offense warrants a special plate as much as a drunken driving conviction does, Tate reported.
But DuBose said this crime deserves the color.
"It may act as a deterrent to keep them from driving around and causing trouble," he said.



... more at linked article (or at the nbc4i.com site. linked)


A friend recently told me about a web site for the State of Maryland, (linked) http://www.dpscs.state.md.us/sorSearch/ that can be used to search for information about known sexual predators in any given neighborhood, and also can be used to search for employed sexual predators that are known to be working in school systems. The results of such searches can be pretty alarming.

Personally I applaud the foward thinking law-makers in Ohio that are exploring the option of helping to make it easier to identify these predators so that citizens in these areas can be aware of the need to be more cautious and more protective of themselves and their children. I know I would want to know if I had a neighbor I should be worried about.
1,952 views 5 replies
Reply #1 Top
Decent idea, but what about those that want a pink (yellow, or whatever color) anyways, even though they havn't done the appropriate crime. I know if I had a pink cadillac I'd want pink plates to go with it
Reply #2 Top
The bright yellow license plates help law enforcement officers recognize drivers with multiple DUI convictions.


This is gonna get so many people from new mexico pulled over........
Reply #3 Top
It needs some other sort of identification. If that were my state, the #1 Halloween prank would be to carefully tape and paint people's tags.
Reply #4 Top
I propose sommething muc more evident, like maybe cutting of the end of the nose of sex offenders and dying the tip bright red.
Reply #5 Top
I think we need to be EXTREMELY careful about the lengths to which we go to publicly identify convicted sex offenders until the public learns how to respond (throwing bricks through the offender's window = not appropriate, for instance).

That being said, I DO think this idea has some very practical long term applications; for instance, parents could warn their children to keep a safe distance from cars with pink plates. But until we learn to act responsibly, this information carries with it certain inherent dangers we must consider.

Thanks for the info.