Cars displaying these decals may be stopped by law enforcement agents for any reason between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. During the stop, the officer verifies ownership by checking vehicle registration. If the car has been reported stolen or if the driver cannot produce identification to match registration documents, the officer can recover the stolen car. State attorneys general and law enforcement or crime prevention agencies operate decal programs. The administering agency also develops a public education campaign and materials on auto theft prevention.
Local agencies publicize the program.
One barrier lies in law enforcement's reluctance to stop all cars with decals during the late night hours when frequent emergency calls require rapid response. Several decal programs operate statewide in Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Florida, and in select cities in California, Ohio, Minnesota, New York, Texas, Tennessee, and South Carolina. A CAT program in New York City has experienced considerable success in reducing thefts among cars carrying decals. As of early 1994, owners of more than 30,000 vehicles in Dallas, Texas, had obtained theft prevention decals. Of those vehicles, only 0.3 percent have been stolen compared to 1.64 percent of cars without decals.