The license plate remains a vital, cost-effective, and readily identifiable law enforcement tool. Every U.S. state and Canadian province mandates its display, and information concerning any plate is accessible to police officers in real time. Noncompliance with a jurisdiction’s vehicle registration laws objectively provides probable cause to believe a violation is occurring and has been demonstrated time and again to be a gateway to clearing serious crime. The basis for choosing this year’s Looking Beyond the License Plate award grand prize winner is considerably different from past selections because the winner’s application stood out as an innovative and creative means of, appropriately, looking beyond the license plate to consistently apprehend murderers and other felons who have committed heinous violent crimes rather than discover serious crime based on a single traffic stop.