Can Houston/Harris County Police Find Someone with only a partial license plate

[burtonsnow2002]

Hello,

I was recently robbed at gunpoint in houston and was able to give police a partial plate description with 4 out of the 7 numbers as well as a description of the car, not sure if the make or model was correct. I was wondering if that is enough information to catch the person as where I was robbed was right by my house and I am a little fearful the person may come back again

thanks

[icu650]

Were the 4 out of 7 numbers in some kind of order? Where there any letters?

[burtonsnow2002]

Yes I'm pretty sure it was letter letter number letter

[icu650]

I am not going to do the math but with the limited information you have I would say that no police department would expend the days and days needed to make the necessary computer searches. The results of open ended searches would be enormous and each individual hit would have to be investigated. Unless this was terrorist related or a national emergency I cannot see ANY department doing this kind of search. You are not sure of the make and model of the car and it could have been stolen and ditched. Your information would be valuable enough to pass on to the police department so officers are aware of the crime and possible plate numbers.

[ChesCopPodz]

They could try every possible combination. However, one of the main problems is that with all of those combinations, I would bet a weeks salary that there is more than one vehicle matching the color/basic description (eg- dark sedan, red pickup, etc) within those possible combinations.

And that's if the robber had the plates actually belonging to that car on the car at the time.

[mcsap]

Our DMV can do these kind of searches but it will lead to a lot of hits as we dont include colors of cars on the reg info.

So is it doable ? Probably. Is it worth the time and expense ? Probably not.

Can I get someones DNA from a rock ? yes. Is it expensive ? YES !

[retdetsgt]

We would try for an armed robbery.

[burtonsnow2002]

Thanks for the info. If I had given the correct make and model it would be easier. I assume? It probably would take no time at all.

[icu650]

If you are correct and the four numbers are correct and in the remembered order you would need to figure out the letters. This is one of many (same) answers that I got when I asked this question on Yahoo Answers.


"If you know the numbers then all you have to do is find the three letters. To do this you multiple 26x26x26. This is because there are three different possible letters and by multiplying the total number of letters for each letter there is, you will find the total number of possible combinations, which is 17,576"

If you had the make of the car it would then be decreased by that amount and then of course the model and so on. Whatever description you do remember would then decrease the searches further, like color size etc. Could it be done. Eventually I guess.

[burtonsnow2002]

So essentially what everyone is saying thàt even with the possibly correct. Make and model ànd having. Possibly. 4 out of 7 of the plate letters and numbers. The variables are still high so most likely this person will get away. I understand the cost would be very high especially when I think there are at least 15 robberies a day average here. At least the police will have basic info and hopefully this person will get pulled over or something
They make it look easy on TV but in truth its a lot harder

[icu650]

Hopefully he will be caught doing another crime and then charged with yours also. Good luck.

[marinepilot]

They make it look easy on TV but in truth its a lot harder

Don't forget that on TV and in the movies, they already know who the bad guy is, so it's pretty easy to look him / her up by the least amount of information. Real life is a bit tougher.

[burtonsnow2002]

Thanks for the info its been 4 days. Since the incident. Like the last officer said hopefully he will get caught doing something else and they can tie him to my crime

[sgtbear111]

The detective in charge of your case may have started an "offline" search thru the databases kept at the federal, state and local levels. The vehicle color is one factor, the make and model is very important. The more info you have, the narrower the search field becomes. These searches take a few days to a few weeks. If the vehicle is a "regular" and the owner or driver a "frequent flier" at the local Police or Sheriff's Dept, their dispatch records may turn up something if he has been contacted before. Ref the bad guy and the car, did a neighbor or someone wlaking thru your neighborhood get a look? Different people remember different things.

For your info / consideration, no reply is needed.

[burtonsnow2002]

Thanks again officers for all your information, one last hypothetical question just for my wife's peace of mind. I know I got the first 3 letter number combination correct on the plate and the next letter I am 95% sure was right, and I got the color, make, and model correct what are the odds they can find the car? I have told my wife about the enormity of trying to find this person as well as we live in the 4th largest city in the U.S., and she has read these posts but she is an odds person we did have a good description of the person as well. Anyways im sure its hard to find the right person even with solid information but any more help would be appreciated.