Reading the article, this seems to mostly be a safety issue. One of the guys got punched by an angry car driver and then police couldn't do anything due to the

Reading the article, this seems to mostly be a safety issue. One of the guys got punched by an angry car driver and then police couldn't do anything due to the missing license plate. Similarly, one missing/obscured plates become common enough, it gets easy for criminals to use that as a cover for a getaway car.