Police pump up blitz

Endeavour Hills Constable Nicole Spinks is one of the members enforcing the blitz

By Callan Date
POLICE have launched a major stake-out of service stations in Endeavour Hills, Hallam and Doveton in an attempt to catch petrol thieves.
The high-visibility blitz started this week in response to the increasing number of petrol drive-off crimes occurring in the area.
Operation Deter will also crack down on unregistered vehicles, stolen registration plates, expired driver’s licences and other offences committed by motorists.
Police issued three penalty notices within the first hour of the operation, which began on Tuesday.
Endeavour Hills Constable Nicole Spinks said a zero-tolerance attitude had been adopted in relation to all offences.
“We want motorists to know that we are out there and actively looking for people committing these petrol drive-off crimes,” Const Spinks said.
Const Spinks said police were working closely with all 11 service stations in the area, with managers showing full support in the operation.
“These crimes are being committed by all sorts of people in all sorts of cars,” she said.
Const Spinks said the only common factor in the crimes was the use of stolen registration plates.
“About 90 per cent of the time stolen number plates are used,” she said.
Service Station Association chief executive Ron Bowden said the impact of petrol drive-offs was felt throughout the industry.
Mr Bowden said operators only made about four cents profit for every litre of petrol they sold. If someone stole 60 litres of petrol, it may take up to $500 of fuel sales to recoup the costs, he said.
“It is a very significant blow,” Mr Bowden said.
He said he was in full support of the Endeavour Hills Police operation.
“We need to reinforce that stealing petrol is a crime just like any other theft, and we fully encourage police to take action against what is normally repeat offenders,” Mr Bowden said.
“The best way to get the message across is to brand them for what they are, and that is criminals.”
Const Spinks said police were keen to continue the operation on a regular basis.
“We will review the results and go from there. We may use unmarked cars at some stage as well,” she said. “It also helps reinforce public confidence that we are out there doing something about these crimes.”