A decision by police to wind up a program aimed at preventing the theft of vehicle registration plates across Canberra has backfired, with this type of theft again on the rise.
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More than 1168 plates were stolen last year. This is up from 1095 in 2017, and 1134 in 2016.
Registration plate theft is regarded by police as a precursor to other, more serious types of crime. These range from the theft of petrol at service stations to using stolen plates in an effort to disguise the identity of a vehicle involved in a ram raid, or other types of vehicular crime.
One of the most successful preventative measures against number plate theft is the fitting of tamper-proof "one-way" screws, designed in such a way that a special tool is required for their removal.
From 2012 to 2015, police supported the free fitting of the secure, tamper-proof screws through its proactive regional program called Project Safeplate. The screws were provided to police for no cost, and it took just a few minutes to remove the existing retaining screws and replace them with the tamper-proof type.
“Installation of secure number plates is a great way to reduce crime as we know that stolen number plates are often used to commit other crimes, such as petrol drive-offs, burglaries and traffic offences,” the officer in charge of Gungahlin Station, Sergeant Rod Anderson said in a previous media statement.
“By reducing the opportunity for criminals to source one of their tools, we hope to contribute to a wider reduction in property and volume crime.”
Under the Safeplate program, police would liaise with the local businesses to promote the program, were given access to dedicated carpark areas for managing the traffic flow, and rostered sworn and unsworn staff on a given day specifically to fit the screws and minimise delays.
Probationary constables recently graduated from the federal Police Academy in Barton, support groups such as Constable Kenny Koala, Crime Stoppers and Volunteers in Policing, would all take part in Project Safeplate.
These programs were conducted in Tuggeranong, Belconnen, Gungahlin and Woden at least once a year and were regarded as a positive, proactive crime prevention activity, as well as an opportunity for police within their local area to engage directly with the public in a friendly and positive environment.
Every police station in Canberra had a screw removal tool.
In 2014, 1778 vehicles across Canberra were fitted with tamper-proof screws.
However, Safeplate was wound up by police in August 2015 and there has been no further crime prevention activity of this type since then.
No explanation for this decision was provided by police but by way of a response, a police statement said, "ACT Policing stations have safe plate screws. The screws are specific to different makes and models of cars and available to the public free of charge."
