Inspection: California Front Plate Placement

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California

I went to have a fix it ticket signed off yesterday for no front plate (I have one but the cop was being nice and not citing me for another violation). The deputy looked at my car from the counter at the station and told me couldn't sign off because I have a tow hook bracket which places the license plate off center. He lectured me that it has to be mounted in the center. I asked him where I could read up on that. He went in the back to print it but came back empty handed and told me I could be cited for the placement and continued to insist it has to be mounted in the center of the bumper. I find this odd considering new vehicles such as an F-150 have the stock plate bracket off center.

I googled the vehicle code for CA and found only a few parameters: 5201.

Quote:

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Quoting CA Vehicle Code Section 5201

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(a) License plates, including temporary license plates, shall at all times be securely fastened to the vehicle for which they are issued so as to prevent the plates from swinging, shall be mounted in a position so as to be clearly visible, and so that the characters are upright and display from left to right, and shall be maintained in a condition so as to be clearly legible. The rear license plate shall be mounted not less than 12 inches nor more than 60 inches from the ground, and the front license plate shall be mounted not more than 60 inches from the ground

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I wanted to check with the experts here that I am reading the vehicle code correctly, and it does not state a required placement position aside from the height and visibility parameters. I really don't like being lied to or intimidated. And it is unnerving that the deputy would spew out hearsay and act so factually about it. Unless I am the wrong party in this situation?

Inspection: California Front Plate Placement