In the base that my brother had occasion to work on, the stickers were optically scanned, and checked that the plate matched that which was on record. That still wouldn’t do away with the stolen car, although those who have cars with the stickers are told to report the theft of their car immediately, and are given a number to call and report this. Police in areas such as Ridgecrest CA, which have very high percentage of military base stickers on cars will ask if you report your car stolen, also.

In conclusion, I must add this gratuitous politically correct statement that we must still attempt to improve our security. After all, there is not such thing as “to much security”.

Yes, actually there is, because in a world of finite resources, spending too much on a certain type of security deprives you of the ability to spend those resources on other more effective types of security. Think, for example of the billions of dollars spent on mail security (x-rays, sensors, handling precautions) that has not yet caught a single piece of terrorist items in the mail..

Next, even as a casual observer, I see many lapses of security by our so-called security professionals. Several years, ago during lunch, I used to walk by a Federal building that had no-parking signs plastered around it plus the vehicle barriers. What did I see? An unoccupied GSA police car parked in front for several hours at a time. An enterprising terrorist could easily fake such a car.

Periodically, I have to enter a military base and I have to show my ID, not a problem. However, if you have one of those special vehicle stickers on your car you don’t have to even stop to demonstrate who you are. Again an enterprising terrorist could simply copy a sticker or hijack one of those cars with a vehicle sticker and get on base.

In conclusion, I must add this gratuitous politically correct statement that we must still attempt to improve our security. After all, there is not such thing as “to much security”.