Denver police to crack down on expired license plate registration for 1 month citing citizen complaints

The Denver Police Department said this week that starting on July 15, it will crack down on expired registrations and temporary license plates.

The campaign is expected to run through Aug. 15 and while the department says it's not a change or reversal in policy, it did call it was "suspending" a policy it adopted in May, saying officers would no longer stop drivers for low-level traffic offenses unless they represented a threat to safety.

"To allow for enforcement of expired vehicle registrations and expired temporary license plates during this one-month period, the Denver Police Department is temporarily, and partially, suspending its policy regarding low-level traffic stops," the department said in a statement this week.

The department said it "consistently" hears complaints from people about expired tags and that this enforcement is "responsive" to those complaints. The initial announcement caused a firestorm of angry responses from Denver residents across social media.

During the enforcement period, people with expired tags who get caught can expect a $95 fine.

"I wrote the policy with every intention of suspending the policy from time to time to be responsive to those community complaints and concerns," Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas told CBS News Colorado on Wednesday.

City leaders have also voiced concerns, like Councilman Kevin Flynn. He says his car insurance is now 17% higher than the year before.

"Chances are, if your vehicle has been expired for a long time you don't have insurance as well, so if you're in an accident that's going to drive up insurance for me, for the guy across the street, and everybody," he said.

Flynn has been vocal about disagreeing with this policy, even creating a YouTube video where he displays his concerns, which include the city losing out on revenue.

"By not collecting and not ensuring that these expired tags are registered, we're losing out on potentially tens of millions of dollars that go into fixing our roads," he added.

Though difficult to verify, Thomas points out it is about listening to the community. 

"It's important to clarify that this is not a revenue-generating effort, the city gets very little revenue from the enforcement of registrations, so this has absolutely nothing to do with revenue," he said. "This has absolutely everything to do with being responsive to community concerns."