I am a law abiding citizen. Not like some of you out there.

When I got my vehicle registration form in the mail, I sent in the money, got my 2010 sticker tag and slapped in on my car.

I am, if nothing else, a model citizen.

But I park in the downtown parking garage. Last week, someone broke into the cars of two Californian employees. But what is worse (at least to me personally), someone took my 2010 sticker on my license plate..

So on Sunday after leaving church, I was speeding down Ming Avenue on my way to play golf.

I stopped at Ashe Road next to a motorcycle Bakersfield police officer. The light turned green as we headed east and all of a sudden, the officer turned on his emergency lights.

I got myself all prepared to tell him that he in no way had a chance to catch me speeding. But to my surprise, Officer J. Paglia tells me I don't have my license tag.

I pulled out my registration. It is up to date. Just as you would expect from a model citizen.

Officer Paglia let me go. He advised me how to go to the DMV to correct this.

On Monday, I parked in the same parking garage. I was too busy that day to go to the DMV. I went out to my car at night and another Bakersfield police officer had written me a ticket for not having a registration sticker.

It says the bail is $100.

Wow. This lawlessness can get expensive.

And what's with those cops? Don't they talk to each other? Paglia already let me go.

The ticket also says I can get fix it by getting a new tag and taking it to the police who will sign off on it.

So today I went to the DMV expecting the wait of a lifetime. The room is packed. I got a form to fill out. I found a seat in the corner away from the video screens where you can actually see what number is being called.

The lady next to me says she's been there more than an hour. I half listen to the numbers being called. Mine is C 040. I hear lots of B's and some G's, but no C's.

Then I hear C 041. I've only been there 20 minutes. I am shocked. How can the DMV possibly be that efficient?

Nonetheless, I proceeded to a window. A nice lady waited on  me even though I have missed my turn. She gave me a sticker. She said it will cost me $18.

I gave her a $20 and didn't leave a tip. But I smiled and was friendly to her.

I drove over to the police department where a desk officer signed the back of my ticket, affirming that I am back in the ranks of model citizens.

The officer, however,told me that when I send the corrected ticket to the authorities in Santa Ana, they will charge me a $15 processing fee. This raised my out of pocket expense for being a crime victim to $33.

I sent a note to Santa Ana asking them to waive the fee because I am a crime victim. I am pretty sure the clerk who opens the envelope will get a chuckle out of that and toss the request.

I, of course, don't want to go through this whole ordeal again. So I asked the desk officer  if there is a correct way to put the sticker on.

Turns out there is. And it isn't the way I had been doing it. (Even model citizens goof up)

What I did was put my sticker on top of the old ones. That actually makes it easier for the thief to slip a knife under it and peel it off.

But if you peel off the old one and put the sticker on the metal plate, it is harder for the thief to get off in one usuable piece. The officer said it gives him personal comfort to know that if his sticker is stolen, at least the crook can't use it..

My boss, the esteemed Breaking News Team leader Davin McHenry, said he puts his sticker on top of the others, but he slices it in half with a razor blade. That makes it harder for the crooks to peel it off and use it intact, he says.

So what we've learned here is you can be a victim of a crime and it will cost you money. It cost my co-workers about $150 each to repair the damage to their car windows.

I know some victims pay hundreds or thousands of dollars. So what's a measly $33?

It's an injustice.