Investigators criticize license plate secrecy

Friday, March 29, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The investigators and the media have been blocked by the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety since Oct. 1 from identifying people from their license plates. The rule, which becomes final in about 30 days, was drawn up from an anti-stalking law passed last year.

Instead of stopping stalkers, private investigators complained during a hearing Wednesday that the DMV has ignored the intentions of legislators and hurt women who come to them for help.

Women seek out private detectives because police can't help them until they actually have been harmed by stalkers, said Larry Doull, president of the Nevada Investigators Association.

"But we can't do anything now," Doull said. "I am not able to identify the persons who are following them. This does a gross disservice to the public."

Las Vegas investigator Wayne Fobar added that the regulation has driven up the prices he must charge. In the past, Fobar said he could identity a potential stalker within 15 minutes through a license plate number.

Now he must assign a couple of detectives to follow stalkers for hours until they return to their homes. The information which cost clients $25 now costs $300, Fobar said.

"All we have done by restricting the use of information is assist the criminals," he added.

But Frank Adams, chief of the DMV's administrative services division, said the regulation is based on a law that allows only law enforcement and parking officers to find identities of people through license plate numbers.

He added out that the private investigators lost a challenge to the law in a February court case. The DMV prevailed, despite affidavits from legislators that they never intended to prevent investigators from gaining information from license plate numbers.

The hearing Wednesday gave the public a chance to vent complaints before the permanent regulation is published. Adams said the final regulation will change little from the one now in effect.

Kent Lauer, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, pointed out that legislators also said they didn't want to stop the media from using license plate information to identify people. Reporters generally use license plate numbers to find the identities of criminal suspects, he said.

"I respectfully ask the department to consider the legislative intent behind this law in designing these regulations," Lauer said. "Why didn't the department ask the legislators to interpret a law they passed? The intent of the Legislature should not be ignored in favor of legalese."