Police are being urged to investigate petrol drive-offs instead of treating them as civil matters, as a parliamentary inquiry shows Hobsons Bay had the fourth worst record for fuel thefts in Victoria over the past 10 years.
Brimbank had the most fuel thefts at 4035, followed by Casey (3190), Hume (2480), Hobsons Bay (1628) and Frankston (1604).
Parliament’s law reform, road and community safety committee urged police to investigate drive-offs and called on the state government to help service station operators introduce pre-payment systems.
In 2003, Victoria Police decided it would not investigate fuel thefts unless there was clear evidence of a criminal offence, such as the use of stolen number plates, or the use of vehicles that had been stolen.
Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana told the committee that, before the policy shift, investigating petrol thefts was costing $3.3million and 18,000 police hours annually.
RACV public policy general manager Brian Negus told the committee he was concerned that police regarded petrol drive-offs as a civil matter.
“It is theft,” he said.
“If someone walks into the servo and steals a bottle of water or something more substantial, then it is clearly theft, and in that sense there is no difference in relation to fuel.”
The inquiry recommended police create an online form for businesses to report drive-offs and that there be a clear consistent response, especially in relation to repeat offenders.
Victoria Police said it would review and consider the recommendations of the report.
Click here to read the final report.
