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While fuel thefts have been running hot, with more crimes committed, police say offenders should be alarmed amid high arrest numbers.
Since March 2, police have laid more than 370 charges for petrol drive offs and burglaries where diesel was targeted, says Tusha Penny, assistant commissioner road policing and district support.
“Police are taking our response to this type of crime seriously and we are expecting that the number of charges will continue to rise. Unfortunately, we are now seeing a significant increase in diesel burglary, rising from 20 offences per week at the start of March to more than 50 offences a week in April.”
Some of these incidents involve more than 1000 litres of diesel, but there has also been an increase in petrol drive offs.
On average, since the week ending March 1, there were 100 more petrol drive offs reported to police each week, a 28 per cent increase.
“However, early indications are that last week the increase was far less. We’ve been talking with petrol companies every week to ensure we’re in touch with what they’re seeing and to discuss crime prevention,” Penny says.
“They are telling us they feel like things are shifting. Our staff have been acting swiftly to respond and the companies have been putting good prevention measures in place.
“I think that teamwork, by police in response and the companies in prevention, may be starting to turn this kind of theft around. Offenders should know we are focused on them.”
Police remain on the case.
“I think if the past few weeks have shown anything, it’s that we will be there to respond, and quickly. We urge people to continue calling police immediately when they see any suspicious activity,” Penny adds.
“I also want to thank the people who have assisted our enquiries and the people and businesses who have had good security measures in place and have contacted us immediately. Their fast calls and their security measures have enabled our staff to quickly identify, locate and charge offenders.”
Prevention advice is available at: Fuel shortage and crime prevention.
