By YASEMIN TALAT
A SPIKE in petrol theft across Hobsons Bay has led police to unveil a new operation to crack down on false and stolen number plates.
Last week the Hobsons Bay Highway Patrol team, together with the Wyndham and Maribyrnong patrols, led the operation targeting motorist across the Westgate division, which encompasses all three municipalities.
“One of the reason why we’re doing this is, unfortunately, there has been a spike in petrol theft,” said Sergeant Jason Van Doren.
Sgt Van Doren said the operation was part of a “two-pronged approach” to combating crime.
“There really is no filter on crime,” he said.
“Someone who steals petrol or might commit other crimes doesn’t mean they’re not committing traffic offences, too.”
Police used the Automatic Number Plate Recognition system (ANPR) to identify stolen or false plates, as well as doing licence checks.
As part of the operation a number of people flagged on the system were intercepted and interviewed in relation to the petrol thefts Sgt Van Doren said.
He said the hotspots for petrol theft were high on the radar and police would continue to work in conjunction with the stations over the coming weeks.
“I think, ultimately, a lot of our petrol theft is driven by people who are doing it no different to stealing clothes and on selling; they’re stealing because they’re thieves – they’re not stealing because they can’t afford to get to work,” he said.
“There have been really big thefts, thefts going up to thousands of dollars,” he said.
Sgt Van Doren said that the thieves would be caught and prosecuted accordingly.
“They’re doing it because they think they’re anonymous, because they’ve got stolen plates on,” Sgt Van Doren said.
“So they will do all sorts of things because they think they can’t be detected,” he said.
“You will be caught, yes you might get away with something at that brief moment of time but we have an array of close circuit TV and other means to identify you,” he said.
“It is only a matter of time before you will come before the courts.”
Sgt Van Doren encouraged all motorists to be vigilant and not to fall victim to number plate theft by picking up one way screws from the police station and by always locking their vehicles.
The operation was also successful in picking up motorists with suspended licences who had their cars impounded as a consequence.
Sgt Van Doren said the ANPR Operation was something that police would conduct regularly throughout the year.
“The thing we want to achieve is to identify the offenders involved, which will ultimately drive down the crime of petrol theft and even vehicle theft.”
