Just thought I would post this:

For public vehicles in LA, there are public plates which say "public" on them, regular plates that are registered to the vehicle in question, and regular plates that are registered to ghost companies.

Marked patrol cars, other city/parish vehicles, get public plates. Cars for detectives, mayors, parish presidents, city council members/parish police jury members (nothing to do with police at all, just a name,) tend to get regular plates but registered to the vehicle and city/parish. Ghost plates are for UC LE work, internal affairs types, certain state government vehicles used for VIP security, a small number for private companies in the executive protection business.

For years, this system has worked well. Slight problems have cropped up when PDs or SOs have tried to use regular private plate vehicles to work street level narcotics stuff, of course (the plate numbers tend to be issued in groups and share prefixes––-making them easily made after a while,) but all doable. Until Eddie Price. The (now former) Mayor of Mandeville. Who got ghost plates for his city issued take home, and who got caught driving it drunk (on camera.) Repeatedly. Did I say repeatedly? Because everyone in south LA got to see it several times on TV and on the Times Picayune online site.

So the state revised the procedures for issuing ghost plates, to include more stringent investigations into actual need for ghost plates before issuing them. I cannot argue with this––good idea.

But I do have a problem with this:
All passenger plates in LA start with three letters, followed by three numbers, as such: ABC123

All of our new ghost plates?
Yeah. The idiots at LA OMV set aside a series for the entire state this time, instead of doing it randomly as the plates get issued.

Seriously.

All of our ghost vehicles, in the whole state as far as I can tell, have the exact same three letter prefix. And it spells a three letter word. It ain't even just three letters, like the old "GDF," "FAE," or "IEY" plates that used to mean police car in the past few years when they did this crap before––––it actually spells a word now. A common word everyone knows. And every dang UC or IA car in the state will now have this plate prefix.

Ugh. Maroons. All of 'em. Maroons.


ETA: Took out an old mate's name and tossed back in the deliberately wrong word from Bugs Bunny, as I intended from the start––––derp.

Well, what word does it spell?

The criminals have to do a bit of homework. Why just give it up?

Yeah, it is pretty frigging bad, and I should just say it, as OPSEC is not gonna be hurt if I do, but I just can't bring myself to actually type it, as we may get a week or two of use out of it before they catch on. I hope you'll understand that since I sometimes go to work armed with a shitty little butterfly knife or NOTHING that I ain't gonna broadcast the exact three letters for a bit, as it ain't totally burned yet.

Maybe get some out of state plates?

Sounds like typical government idiocracy has caught up with you.

Used to be an option, but no longer allowed––––––we could probably swing it, as my unit boasts a scrounger so good he got us a *copier,* but it would be illegal.

Not tryin to be a dick, just sayin! I would want somone to tell me.

but.. your missing an O there.. "Moron". :-)

On a serious note though...that is pretty messed up.

Just me havin' a bit of confusion on the old Bugs Bunny "maroons" bit mate, that's all, as Pat Moran of blessed memory used to be used as the butt of a joke or two back in the day in "da nint wahd," in a similar vein. Thanks for the spot though, as I was thinking "maroons" but typed "Morans."

Someone hasn't seen the list of ARFCOM approved funny images.......................

Arrrrr......forgot about that entirely............just went with the 9th Ward approved explanation.

I really hope it's not COP

Even LA OMV ain't that bad yet.......though it would be hilarious and would not surprise me near enough if that was the case.

Nope... It'e LEO ***

All of our local city detectives cars plates start with AKP.

Fine for regular detectives, not so cool for people in my line of work.

Knowing State Govt's and the shit they do, it's probably "PIG" or "RUN"