Victoria, Australia - fuel theft on the increase
{{dateline|date=August 15, 2006|location=Victoria, Australia}} {{Australian news}} Crime statistics released on Monday by Victoria Police show that Victoria is seeing an increase in fuel theft, much like [[w:Sydney, Australia|Sydney]] has recently experienced.

In the past year, petrol drive-off offences have increased by 41.6%, from 5,038 in 2004-05 to 7,135 in 2005-06. There has also been a large increase in number plate thefts, 31.9% in the past year. These thefts allow concealment of vehicle registration numbers during the commission of drive-off offenses.

Police Chief Commissioner, Christine Nixon, has said that new initiatives are being introduced to control the growing problem. "In particular we have recently introduced the 'safe plates' initiative which encourages the use of one-way screws on number plates", she said. 

The slotted head of the screw allows an installer to turn the screw tighter for fastening the license plate in place, but the screw cannot be backed out with a screwdriver because the slot is shorn off in the direction needed to loosen the screw.

== References ==
{{wikipediapar|Oil price increases of 2004-2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=8044
|title=Crime statistics show Victoria is still a safe place to be
|author=
|pub=Victoria Police, Australia
|date=August 14, 2006}}

== Sources ==

*{{source|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/08/04/1154198328993.html
|title=Petrol rage: drive-offs now one an hour
|author=Robert Wainwright
|pub=Sydney Morning Herald
|date=August 5, 2006}}

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[[Category:Australia]]
[[category:Oceania]]
[[Category:Energy]]
[[Category:Crime and law]]
[[Category:Victoria, Australia]]
Crime statistics released on Monday by Victoria Police show that Victoria is seeing an increase in fuel theft, much like Sydney has recently experienced.

In the past year, petrol drive-off offences have increased by 41.6%, from 5,038 in 2004-05 to 7,135 in 2005-06. There has also been a large increase in number plate thefts, 31.9% in the past year. These thefts allow concealment of vehicle registration numbers during the commission of drive-off offenses.

Police Chief Commissioner, Christine Nixon, has said that new initiatives are being introduced to control the growing problem. "In particular we have recently introduced the 'safe plates' initiative which encourages the use of one-way screws on number plates", she said. 

The slotted head of the screw allows an installer to turn the screw tighter for fastening the license plate in place, but the screw cannot be backed out with a screwdriver because the slot is shorn off in the direction needed to loosen the screw.

category:Oceania
Australia Energy Crime and law Victoria, Australia