Details about this story

• Source: Orange County Register
• Date: April 04, 2008
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Jennifer Muir
• Topics: Transportation , State Government
• Data Types: State Data
• Description/Excerpt: Their Toyota is one of 996,716 vehicles registered to motorists who are affiliated with 1,800 state and local agencies and who are allowed to shield their addresses under the Confidential Records Program. An Orange County Register investigation has found that the program, designed 30 years ago to protect police from criminals, has been expanded to cover hundreds of thousands of public employees – from police dispatchers to museum guards – who face little threat from the public. Their spouses and children can get the plates, too. This has happened despite warnings from state officials that the safeguard is no longer needed because updated laws have made all DMV information confidential to the public.