I will freely admit I don’t know the first state to require a front plate, and historically at what point states began adopting them, but I can say with first hand knowledge that’s how the infraction is used now and for several years past. Pre-shift briefings are nothing like Hill Street Blues, and if the general motoring public were to hear some of the stuff said in them, there would riots, or at least some spit out lattes. Traffic cops are a different breed of LEO. Not all LEO are like them, but the ones who stay in traffic tend to not have a great deal of respect or empathy for other humans. To be fair, they’re lied to quite frequently and I think this colors the perspective of anyone this happens to.
Even where the front plate is a moving violation, it’s often overlooked because it’s not a big money infraction, close to the end of shift, and a number of other excuses. sometimes there is “directed” enforcement of certain infractions, a local politician might complain. Other times and in some places it’s budgetary. a telephone call will be placed to someone who can command patrol division to undertake certain enforcement campaigns. The Fed offers assistance to, as do insurance companies, though it’s becoming more common for this kind of “assistance” to come from profession or industry orgs. Most of this is for speeding or what the media like to call “aggressive driving”.
if you’re motoring along with no front plate, or have it stuffed in the windshield, hanging by zip ties or coat hanger wire, you can be detained for it in states where it’s an infraction. If you live where front plates are required by all the surrounding areas, not having one makes your vehicle stick out and not “look like the others”. This will draw attention more than having the plate.
as to drilling holes; I had to check. Where I’m at the standard is clearly legible, clearly visible, securely affixed and cannot swing. Cannot be covered, obscured etc.
holes could be ok, but you’ll almost certainly run into someone who considers the holes to alter the ‘legibility’.
