On Saturday, the Denver Police Department will begin a month-long enforcement operation that is crucial to combatting crime — even if it also can be an annoyance for some of the motoring public: ensuring vehicle registration is up to date.

Granted, the cost to the law-abiding driver to register a car and display updated plates has soared over the years. But that’s not the fault of local law enforcement, which gets none of the revenue. Blame the money grab on our legislature and governor for attaching so many dubious fees to the price of keeping your vehicle current. Coloradans have every right to hold the state government accountable as to where that money actually goes — a separate debate.

But, cost aside, a much-needed and overdue crackdown on out-of-date plates in Denver is the tip of the spear in addressing crimes large and small, isolated and at scale. Just as New York City cleaned itself up in the 1990s with its “Broken Windows” policing policy — not letting small stuff slide, like the New York subway’s turnstile jumpers — citing motorists for driving without up-to-date vehicle registration is a necessary part of the city’s return to law and order. Double-checking vehicle registration is in fact an essential tool enabling police to ensure cars haven’t been stolen or implicated in other crimes.

It’s no coincidence Colorado’s violent and property crimes surged during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Enforcement of motor-vehicle laws like having proper plates and registration was not at the same scale by local and state police, who also were reeling from state lawmakers’ anti-cop crusade. 

From teen auto-theft rings like the “Kia Boys” to drug-addicted repeat offenders, to homegrown and foreign criminal syndicates, perpetrators utilizing vehicles — often stolen — with missing, expired or stolen tags and plates is SOP for lawbreakers plying their criminal trade. Any Colorado cop will tell you as much. Colorado didn’t become the nation’s No. 1 auto-theft state in 2022 and 2023 by chance.

While we don’t expect the crackdown to sit well with everyone, let’s recognize the likelihood of a silent majority on the matter. Denver police say the stepped-up enforcement, running through Dec. 15, comes in response to community concern about expired tags and follows a month-long crackdown in the spring that resulted in 656 citations — more than 20 a day. Popular support is playing a significant role.

To allow for enforcement of expired vehicle registrations and expired temporary license plates during this one-month period, DPD is temporarily, and partially, suspending its policy regarding low-level traffic stops. 

That will be a welcome development in its own right for many Denverites. Low-level traffic stops often enough prevent higher-level crimes.  They also head off a host of other traffic law violations that are more than mere nuisances. Cracking down on expired tags sends a message to all those who are speeding, red-light running and drag racing on Denver-area streets and highways — that the sheriff is back in town.