Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would switch temporary tags for cars from paper to metal. HB 718 was introduced by State Representative Craig Goldman (R-Fort Worth).
The bill would end the use of paper tags, require dealers or sellers to enter the car's information into a database before assigning a tag to a car and assign dealers a set number of metal tags to use.
"The State of Texas is just completely inundated with fraudulent paper tags," said Grand Prairie Police Chief Daniel Scesney. "We are seeing an issue with officers not knowing who's behind the wheel when they walk up to a car. Violent criminals are using them to hide their identity when committing violent crime."
In November, Grand Prairie Police Officer Brandon Tsai died during a chase when he spotted someone driving with a fake temporary tag.
"The job is challenging, and there are certainly inherent risks, but for police officers, it's a calling. It's something we view as a noble profession. We want to give back to our community," Scesney said. "What we need from our elected officials and lawmakers is to give us the tools necessary to keep Texans safe."
The suspect in Tsai's death has been charged with evading arrest and detention causing death and tampering with physical evidence. In November, police said he also had eight additional warrants from several cities across North Texas.
Scesney said HB 718 can prevent cases like Tsai's, but he says cartels also use fake tags to avoid detection.
"Human traffickers use them, and drug traffickers use them to get product and innocent people across the border," he said. "It's a big problem we really need to solve."
In December, Texas DMV started issuing redesigned paper tags to dealers. The tags now include a Texas flag watermark, the make and model of the car, the issuing dealer and a QR code.
Despite the change, Scesney said Grand Prairie Police officers recently saw five cars with fake tags in just one hour.
"I wish I could tell you spotting these was rare, but that is not the case. They are everywhere," he said. "Just for the purpose of seeing how simple it was, we created our own fake paper tag. It took us about 45 minutes to build the template, and now, we could churn them out as often as we wanted to. That includes the QR code which was added. We even put a fake web address to marry up to the QR code."
Scesney recently went to Austin to testify in support of the bill. HB 718 was introduced by a Republican, but he says many lawmakers from both parties were surprised by the scope of the problem.
"This is a bi-partisan effort as far as I can see," he said. "I really don't think they had a true understanding of how easy it is [to produce fake tags]. It's too easy."
Texas DMV already allows people to transfer personalized license plates to new cars. Scesney said the state could consider that framework and have license plates follow the person to a new car.
"I don't think that's much of a challenge. Other states are already doing that," he said. "There are plenty of other places we can look to for a road map, but I can tell you the current system is broken. Far too many people are being victimized as a consequence of criminals being able to hide their identity behind these tags."
He said the issue affects all Texans because someone with a fake tag is not likely to have insurance. In the case of a crash, the other driver's uninsured motorist provision will need to make up the difference, leading to higher premiums.
"I'm very hopeful our lawmakers will support House Bill 718 and make Texas safer for cops and everyone else," he said. "Everyone in the State of Texas, this is impacting their back pocket."
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