CRIME PREVENTION PROJECT TURNS THE SCREWS ON CROOKS: SPENCE
Published Thursday, 11 October, 2007 at 03:45 PM
Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Sport
The Honourable Judy Spence
An innovative new crime prevention imitative is helping reduce the risk of number plate theft in Queensland.
Police Minister Judy Spence said the ‘Turning the Screws’ project is making it harder for thieves to remove number plates from vehicles.
“Queenslanders fork out thousands of dollars every year in number plate replacement,” Ms Spence said.
“Not to mention the cost to victims of further crimes in which the number plates are used, including break and enters, robberies and service station drive-offs.
“Under the ‘Turning the Screws’ project, police are providing free one-way screws for number plates, which cannot be removed using conventional tools.
“This project has the potential to eliminate the ability of criminals to disguise a stolen or unregistered vehicle with false number plates, making it more difficult for them to avoid police detection.”
Ms Spence said the project was the initiative of a number of police officers in the Metropolitan North and North Coast Regions.
“We have one of the best police services in the world – and this innovative initiative is just one example of how good our police really are,” Ms Spence said.
“The officers involved in the development of this project applied for and received $10,200 in government funding, under the Problem Oriented Policing initiative – which encourages police to come up with good ideas to prevent crime in their local communities.
“This government is pleased to support such excellent initiatives and I encourage all officers to continue putting these kinds of ideas forward.”
Ms Spence said she is pleased to see the ‘Turning the Screws’ project being rolled out in her own electorate of Mount Gravatt this weekend.
“So far the program has been trialled in the North Brisbane, Pine Rivers and Redcliffe police districts – and this weekend I’m delighted to say, vehicle owners in Mount Gravatt will have a chance to get the screws fitted on their cars,” Ms Spence said.
Vehicle owners can have the one-way screws fitted by police at:
o Bunnings, Mount Gravatt, corner of Wecker and Creek Roads, Mansfield, from 10am-2pm, Saturday, October 13.
o Bunnings, Cannon Hill on Creek Road, Cannon Hill, from 10am to 2pm on and Sunday, October 14.
Inspector Jeff Bremner of the Upper Mount Gravatt Local Area Command said the Metropolitan South Region had been chosen for the project following positive feedback for the trial in the North Brisbane, Pine Rivers and Redcliffe police districts.
“Number plate thieves have particularly targeted Carindale, Coorparoo, Sunnybank and Eight Mile Plains in the Metropolitan South Region,” Inspector Bremner said.
“From November last year to May this year, 80 registration plates were stolen from motor vehicles in the Metropolitan South Region.
“More than 21 percent of these were later used in other crimes and about 33 percent of registration plates were found attached to other vehicles and stolen vehicles.
“By introducing ‘Turning the Screws’ in the Metropolitan South Region, we are hoping to change that statistic.”
Media Contact: Nicola Hazell – 0439 673 287 Police Media: 3015 2444
Police Minister Judy Spence said the ‘Turning the Screws’ project is making it harder for thieves to remove number plates from vehicles.
“Queenslanders fork out thousands of dollars every year in number plate replacement,” Ms Spence said.
“Not to mention the cost to victims of further crimes in which the number plates are used, including break and enters, robberies and service station drive-offs.
“Under the ‘Turning the Screws’ project, police are providing free one-way screws for number plates, which cannot be removed using conventional tools.
“This project has the potential to eliminate the ability of criminals to disguise a stolen or unregistered vehicle with false number plates, making it more difficult for them to avoid police detection.”
Ms Spence said the project was the initiative of a number of police officers in the Metropolitan North and North Coast Regions.
“We have one of the best police services in the world – and this innovative initiative is just one example of how good our police really are,” Ms Spence said.
“The officers involved in the development of this project applied for and received $10,200 in government funding, under the Problem Oriented Policing initiative – which encourages police to come up with good ideas to prevent crime in their local communities.
“This government is pleased to support such excellent initiatives and I encourage all officers to continue putting these kinds of ideas forward.”
Ms Spence said she is pleased to see the ‘Turning the Screws’ project being rolled out in her own electorate of Mount Gravatt this weekend.
“So far the program has been trialled in the North Brisbane, Pine Rivers and Redcliffe police districts – and this weekend I’m delighted to say, vehicle owners in Mount Gravatt will have a chance to get the screws fitted on their cars,” Ms Spence said.
Vehicle owners can have the one-way screws fitted by police at:
o Bunnings, Mount Gravatt, corner of Wecker and Creek Roads, Mansfield, from 10am-2pm, Saturday, October 13.
o Bunnings, Cannon Hill on Creek Road, Cannon Hill, from 10am to 2pm on and Sunday, October 14.
Inspector Jeff Bremner of the Upper Mount Gravatt Local Area Command said the Metropolitan South Region had been chosen for the project following positive feedback for the trial in the North Brisbane, Pine Rivers and Redcliffe police districts.
“Number plate thieves have particularly targeted Carindale, Coorparoo, Sunnybank and Eight Mile Plains in the Metropolitan South Region,” Inspector Bremner said.
“From November last year to May this year, 80 registration plates were stolen from motor vehicles in the Metropolitan South Region.
“More than 21 percent of these were later used in other crimes and about 33 percent of registration plates were found attached to other vehicles and stolen vehicles.
“By introducing ‘Turning the Screws’ in the Metropolitan South Region, we are hoping to change that statistic.”
Media Contact: Nicola Hazell – 0439 673 287 Police Media: 3015 2444