[gregschlom]

I don't think anyone serious about stealing cars would drive them around with their original license plate.

Most likely the first thing thieves do is switch their plate with the plate of a similar car (same make, same color), then drive to another country where they'll be resold.

[gliese1337]

I think you presume too much about the motives and planning behind the majority of car thefts.

A professional car thief who steals cars in order to resell them may very well work that way. But I suspect those people are a small minority in comparison to the opportunists who probably don't have appropriate spare plates on hand, or the desperate criminals trying to pick up a getaway car, or the joyriders, etc.

[tbyehl]

That's a lot of work, plus you don't know if the owner of the stolen plate has warrants, suspended license, lack of insurance, or anything else that might cause an ALPRS alert. Better to just remove the plate and go. I commuted in one car for a year with no plate. Drove by cop cars with ALPRS regularly. I don't think these things alert when an object passes by but it failed to recognize a license plate.

In another car that I'd just purchased a cop pulled up next to me at a light and asked about my lack of plate. Said I bought it a couple days ago, he said I have X days in this state to get tagged and drove off.

[mirimir]

Right. Handwritten note in the back window, in big block letters.

[stretchwithme]

That's okay. Stolen plates can be on the list too.