Senatorial Courtesy Plates - An Inside Look

by Dufu

I thought this might be interesting to some of the folks out there and also possibly stir up some additional conversation.

In New Jersey, there are license plates you can get for your car, truck, RV, or motorcycle that are called "Senatorial Courtesy Plates."  Typically, they have three letters, then a space, and then a single number.  If you go to the DMV with a custom plate request and have a three letter, single number combination, they will essentially turn you down on the spot because without Senatorial approval, you cannot own one of these plates in New Jersey.

Here is how the plate is useful to the local authorities or anyone else who might be interested:

The first letter is a "County" designation.  For instance, "S" is for Somerset County.

However, there are two other "S" counties.  Salem County is in the southern portion of the state and Sussex County is in the north.

Four counties start with "M" as well.  Morris County uses the letter "L" and Middlesex County uses "K," from what I understand.

The numbers section is interesting as well with "6" and "7" typically reserved for people who are cops, although I know of at least a single person who was not a cop who had one.  He did have some other high level government access, so I think they pulled some strings for him to drive around in his hot rod with "police plates," if you will.

"1" is typically for Freeholders (county government officials) and very important mayors.  I'd like to know how they determine VIP mayors from non-VIP mayors, but that's another story.

"3," "4," and "5" are usually reserved for police chief use only.

I wish I had the full list of what all the letters and numbers mean, but this is all I could get out of my contact.  Maybe someone else out there can write in with the information?  Bueller?  Bueller?  Bueller?

Most of this information is supposedly not known at the local police force level except in large towns or cities, but it is well known at the state police level.

Now you may wonder just how this would be useful to the Storm Troopers... er... I mean the New Jersey State Troopers.

If you have one of these custom plates, they know where you are from by the first letter on your plate and who they might be stopping by the number.  If a cop were to be following you and noticed your cool plate (as well as the fact that you were speeding or otherwise taking advantage of your crime permission ID tag), he or she knows before they pull you over how important of a person you are in the eyes of the government hierarchy.

They can then make a decision prior to turning on their lights and sirens whether it will benefit them or be highly detrimental to their career path.  This may shock and surprise a lot of you, but cops don't generally pull over other cops.  Can you say legalized organized crime?

An ex-girlfriend of mine had a father who was a Port Authority officer.  He was a good man, but he told me of times when he would have to drive around in his old beat up pickup truck that could not pass inspection and was not registered.  When pulled over, he would simply flash his badge and be sent on his way.  That there, my friends is what these plates do for government officials, but it happens before and without the police stop.

<MINI RANT ON>

This is a little side note on the issue, but a friend of mine always says, "Never let intimidation or fear keep you from speaking the truth.  Expose intimidation and banish fear!  Exposure is sometimes the best form of accountability."  To me, this is exactly the reason why this information has to get out there.

Officers play a very important role in society and Law Enforcement Officers (LEO) in general are a good thing.  But as old farmer Brown used to say, one rotten apple can spoil the whole bushel, right?  Those who were hired to "Serve and Protect" cannot be allowed to forget that little motto, even if it has disappeared from the side of most of their cruisers in the past few years.

Those in office who were hired to serve and represent us seem to have forgotten that.  They think we are here to serve them and their goals.

</MINI RANT OFF>

All of this information comes to me from someone who had a Somerset County plate back in the late-1980s, so it may be a bit outdated.  He did, however, provide the information in December 2010, so I'm guessing that he would have added a little note about how things have changed if that was the case, since he keeps current contact with those in the government to this day.

I hope you enjoyed this little look into the workings of the New Jersey State Crime Allowance Organization.

I'm sure it is similar to the CAO in your state or country as well.