Published: May 14, 2008 02:14 pm            

New database helps track down stolen cars

Deputies crack down on emissions, illegal inspection stickers

By Leia Jobe

reporter2@trcle.com



A new database will help law enforcement officers track stolen cars and cut down on unsafe emissions and illegal inspection stickers.

The database, created by the North Central Texas Council of Governments, provides access to all emissions information since May 2003, including citations for counterfeit inspection stickers.

Patrol officers across the state can access the Web-based database from laptop computers during traffic stops.

“It’s already helped us recover a stolen car with a fake inspection sticker,” said Capt. Mike Gilbert of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

NCTCOG’s air quality operations analyst, Richard McComb, attended the Johnson County Commissioners Court meeting Monday to discuss the database and its usefulness in detecting illegal inspection stickers.

“Counterfeit stickers are a very serious problem,” he said.

Often, counterfeit inspection stickers will be fabricated by hand or altered in an attempt to be passed as valid, he said.

McComb said he has been to auctions in which 12 out of 100 cars had illegal inspection stickers.

Officers can issue citations to first-time offenders with illegal stickers, but in the past it has been difficult for officers on traffic stops to run several time-consuming searches on a suspect. Officers needed a central access point to search records from the entire state at once.

“We needed a joint, countywide effort to focus on this problem,” he said. “Never before has there been a practical way to research and enforce this.”

So local initiatives teamed up with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s Low Income Vehicle Repair Assistance, and Retrofit and Accelerate Vehicle Retirement Program to create the database to save officers time and catch more criminals.

The database is already proving useful, Gilbert said.

“Before, officers would have to call down to Austin to check,” he said. “And if it’s a late shift, there’s no one answering the phone down in Austin. Now we can just access the Web.”

Law enforcement officials and justice system personnel have access to the online database through a Web site.

TCEQ has also created a cost-share grant program to help counties handle increasing illegal inspection sticker caseloads.

Johnson County has been accepted to participate in the program, said county grant coordinator Debbie Rice.

Before receiving the money, the county must submit a budget to TCEQ to show how the county would use the $51,000 grant and provide matching funds.

The money could be used for equipment, sting operations, overtime or to hire additional officers.

Although the most dangerous emissions are often invisible, officers can now only enforce laws against visible smoke. If a vehicle blows smoke for more than 10 seconds or blows smoke that doesn’t dissipate in less than eight seconds, the driver can be fined $350 for the first citation. The second citation garners $1,000.

Until the creation of the NCTCOG’s new database, officers often had a hard time tracking second-time smoke offenders, especially if the previous offense occurred in another county.

“This database will enable officers to quickly and easily determine if the person has gotten a previous citation,” McComb said.

        

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