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Vehicles displaying the HEAT decal on the front windshield and rear window are clearly identifiable to law enforcement officers throughout the state as being registered in this anti-auto-theft program. Registration in HEAT and displaying the decals means the vehicle owner gives permission to any law enforcement officer to stop the vehicle between the hours of 1:00 am and 5:00 am, to identify the driver as one of the persons registered by the owner as having permission to drive the vehicle. The vehicle may also be stopped 24 hours a day at the border of Mexico. The program is free to the citizen and the original registration is good for four years.
If a HEAT-stickered vehicle is stopped by a law enforcement officer during the program hours and the vehicle operator or occupant is NOT one of the drivers listed on the HEAT registration, the officer will then check further to see if the vehicle has been stolen. In some cases, officers have stopped vehicles with the HEAT decal, discovered an unauthorized person was driving, contacted the registered owner who, only then, learned the vehicle was missing and had been stolen. More than one Texas officer has called an owner in the middle of the night, only to have the owner insist his vehicle was "in the driveway", when, in fact, the vehicle and the car thief were with the officer.
Times, dates, and locations for H.E.A.T. registration events can be found on our events page. If anyone has any questions they may call the Crime Prevention Unit at 972-744-4955.
The Department of Public Safety has announced a way for our citizen's to enroll their vehicles over the internet or by U.S. Mail. This service has been available since February 2, 2002.. The web address is below. The citizen can print off the form, mail it into DPS and they will register the car and send the vehicle owner the window decals. The owner calls into DPS to activate the decals and the process is complete. |
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- TXDPS H.E.A.T. Registration webpage link -
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Last updated: 7/26/2012 4:49:04 PM