The Mooroopna Kiwanis Club, Greater Shepparton Neighbourhood Watch and the Shepparton Police joined together to run a SafePL8 event in Mooroopna.
The state wide initiative helps prevent number plates being stolen to enable a false identity for criminals to commit crimes such as house break ins, robberies, petrol thefts and drug trafficking.
More than 10 volunteers took time out of their weekend to replace normal screws on people’s number plates with anti-theft screws.
Crime prevention officer Glen Gibson said it was terrific to see the community come together to help prevent crime.
“It’s fantastic that community groups are getting involved and working together to address a bit of an issue in the area, the best solutions are the ones that involve the community” Mr Gibson said.
“I would like to congratulate their involvement because police can’t have the resources to come down and replace peoples number plates so it's great they are helping out” he said.It was a busy morning for the volunteers as the car park was filled with people lining up to protect themselves against the crime.
More than 11,000 number plates are stolen across the state per year.
Mr Gibson said no car owner is immune to number plate theft.
“People need to get their number plate screws secured and they need to consider where they park such as a garage or a well lighted area just to reduce the risk” he said.
The community groups will run another SafePL8 initiative later in the year which will run for a gold coin donation.
Neighbourhood Watch Secretary Cathie McMaster said people need to continue to be aware of their personal and property safety.
“Things that we believe are common sense like locking your door, has to be repeated time and time again because often theft and burglary happen because people are not protecting themselves against these crimes” she said.
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