Stolen number plates are often used in other crimes, particularly with petrol drive-offs in the Goulburn Valley.
Shepparton police crime prevention officer Leading Senior Constable Glenn Gibson believes that by making number plates hard to steal, other crimes can also be reduced.
Mooroopna and district residents will have the chance on Saturday, July 17, to get their number plates affixed to their car so that other people cannot remove them.
The Safe Plate Day will see volunteers from Neighbourhood Watch Greater Shepparton and Mooroopna Kiwanis Club fixing one-way screws to plates on locals’ cars for a gold coin donation.
The safe screws can only be removed with a special tool and not with a regular screwdriver.
Leading Senior Constable Gibson urged people to take part in the day.
“Last year in Victoria, just under 10,000 vehicles had plates stolen,” he said.
Often these plates are then put on other cars to distinguish them in petrol drive-offs, thefts and to rack up tolls that the real owner has to pay, Leading Sen Constable Gibson said.
They are also used on cars that are unregistered to try to avoid detection by police, he said.
They are taken from cars in car parks, but also in residential streets and driveways at night.
Saturday’s Safe Plate Day is open to anyone, with it only taking about five minutes to change the screws on each vehicle.
Usually, the Safe Plate Day has between 50 and 80 people who change their number plate screws.
“We’re encouraging people to get this done,” Leading Sen Constable Gibson said.
“It’s a simple solution to a common crime.
“For a single crime, if we can stop it, it stops a lot of flow-on crimes.”
The Mooroopna Safe Plate Day will be held on Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm in the car park behind Woolworths in McLennan St, Mooroopna.