November 26, 2019
Blackbutt Police are looking for a community group interested in taking part in a “Turn The Screws On Crime” event to help stop number plate thefts in the area.
Officer-in-charge, Sergeant Andrew McDowell, said Blackbutt Police have increased traffic enforcement over the past couple of months with a number of offences detected.
“It is disappointing to find a large number of persons making the decision to drive a vehicle without a driver’s licence or without the vehicle being registered,” he said.
“It is only a matter of time before you are pulled over and put before a magistrate for your poor decision.
“Many vehicles have also been detected with false or expired plates attached.
“A lot of these plates have been taken off other vehicles which is a timely reminder for everyone to be vigilant and ensure your vehicle plates are attached properly to minimise the opportunity of offenders taking them from your vehicle and placing them on their vehicles.
“I am in the process of identifying a local community group who may be willing to purchase special tamper-proof screws and establish a community day in which local police can assist with replacing existing number plate screws with the tamper-proof ones to minimise theft in the division.
“If you are involved in a local community group and feel that this may suit your group, please contact me at the station on (07) 5495-0099 or Blackbutt.Station@police.qld.gov.au
“You can even use the day as a bit of a fundraiser with gold coin donations for every plate installed and/or sausage sizzle on the day etc.”
This is a great project. However a caller to ABC talkback some time ago said he bought a used car from a dealer and later got numerous fines posted to him. Apparently an offender had photographed the plates as the car sat in the yard and with modern technology was able to print new plates to attach to the offending vehicle. One jump ahead of this program.