Following the arrest, Davie Police apologized and released a statement:<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the initial release of this updated law, the wording was vague, unclear and appeared to be open for misinterpretation. Since the release of a memo of clarification from the Florida Police Chiefs\u2019 Association was provided to our department, our officers are educated on the application and use of this statute. Unfortunately, it appears this arrest was invalid, and we extend our apologies to Mr. Dawson.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 \u00a0Davie Police Department<\/p>\n
Since then, the FLHMSV has issued a memo on how to correctly interpret the law, and law enforcement agencies across the state have been instructing their officers on how to enforce the new law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis act does not prohibit the use of a license plate frame as long as the frame does not obscure visibility of the following:<\/p>\n
1. The alphanumeric plate identifier;<\/p>\n
2. The decal located in the top right hand corner of the license plate.<\/p>\n
The Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles does not consider the information on the bottom of the plate to be a primary feature of the plate. A plate frame that impinges on the information at the top of the plate is permissible, as long as law enforcement is able to identify the state that issued the license plate.”<\/p>\n
The law initially went into effect on October 1st this year.<\/p>\n
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