By NATALIE GALLENTI
NB: NO PIC on MELTON P1.
Caption Senior Sergeant Adam Fry and Sergeant Dean Brady will be on hand to speak to residents who have outstanding fines or warrants during Operation Surrender. 104139 Picture: NATALIE GALLENTI
MELTON and Caroline Springs residents who have outstanding fines and arrest warrants are being urged to hand themselves in as part of Operation Surrender.
In Melton, Caroline Springs and Deer Park there are presently a staggering 17,000 people with over 107,000 outstanding warrants, amounting to more than $38 million.
The operation is a joint venture between Victoria Police and the Sheriff’s Office and will allow these residents to go to Melton Police Station on Thursday 29 August and discuss the different avenues to voluntarily surrender themselves and organise arrangements to clear their fines or deal with pending court proceedings.
Sheriff of Victoria, Brendan Facey, said the operation will give people in Melbourne’s West a good opportunity to deal with their outstanding warrants.
“This is an opportunity to avoid the embarrassment and inconvenience of a police or sheriff’s officer pulling you over or knocking on your door or arriving at your workplace,” Mr Facey said.
Too many people around Melton and Caroline Springs are finding themselves in financial trouble after allowing fines to build up over time, he said.
Melton Inspector Stephen Mutton said people with outstanding warrants could deal with the problem on a designated day, which would minimise the inconvenience of being caught at an unexpected time.
“We know there are a large amount of people who have outstanding warrants or fines that continue building up – ignoring the problem won’t make it go away, and it can cause a huge amount of financial stress,” Insp Mutton said.
Insp Mutton said the mounting stress of a fine can often contribute to family violence and other criminal activity and encouraged people to take responsibility and turn themselves in.
But he warned offenders that ignoring calls to hand themselves in would only lead to further trouble, with police conducting road block operations throughout Melton after Operation Surrender is complete.
Insp Mutton said offenders had nowhere to hide with Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology used as an extremely useful tool for police to locate people with outstanding fines or warrants.
“Your car could be clamped on the spot or you could be remanded if you’re caught during an ANPR road block, which can cause massive inconvenience when someone is not expecting it,” he said.
The operation will run from 2pm until 10pm on Thursday, 29 August opposite Melton Police Station.
