New law to prevent identity theft

You hear a lot about financial identity theft, but a lesser known form of identity fraud happens every day when people fake their identities during routine traffic stops.

What has happened during those routine traffic stops is a drivers will say they don’t have their license or ID on them and give officers a name that is not their own.

Often times the name given is that of a family member or close friend, someone the driver knows very well and is able to recite personal information by memory.

If someone doesn’t have their driver’s license on them when they are pulled over the officer can take a picture of them. And even if they have an ID on them the officer can snap a photo if he has any doubt about who the person is.

This law would have been a big help to officers who stopped John Dickinson, a North Carolina man who gave fake names on more than 20 DWI stops.

Dickinson pleaded guilty to four DWIs in September and was sentenced to eight and a half years behind bars.

Another law that went into affect in October is also designed to stop identity fraud. That one requires law enforcement officers to photograph and get fingerprints of people pulled over for DWIs who do not present a license.