The ATPA's effort to combat auto theft internationally includes the establishment of Houston Police Dpartment's Port Squad, which works closely with U.S. Customs in the areas of shipping container inspections, intelligence gathering and criminal identification. If peace officers see a participating vehicle being driven anywhere in Texas during those hours, they may stop the vehicle and verify ownership. A white front decal indicates that the owner also authorizes stop of the vehicle at any time that the car is used to cross the border from Texas into Mexico. From the driver's seat, the front window sticker is barely visible as it is obscured by the window, but it's highly reflective surface can be viewed easily from the outside of the car by peace officers. H.E.A.T. in Denton Officer Dale Binkert coordinated the H.E.A.T. program into the Denton Police department.
Registration is for a period of four years.
Registration does not prevent the owner or anyone to whom the owner grants permission from driving the vehicle during the program hours of enforcement. The vehicle owner agrees to advise any other person granted permission to operate the vehicle to do so under the H.E.A.T. registration provisions. The vehicle owner agrees to and understands that peace officers will take certain precauctions when making a stop on a registered vehicle during the program hours because of the potential for it to have been stolen. Once registered, your vehicle information is entered into a statewide database to provide instant, 24-hour information for law enforcement agencies.