New police initiative targets concerning trend

Mackay police are taking a proactive approach as part of a statewide push to tackle a daily issue.

The Queensland Police Service have announced the trial will see messages prompt owners of vehicles involved in fuel drive-off offences to return to the station and pay for the fuel.

MACKAY police are taking a proactive approach as part of a statewide push to tackle a daily issue.

Fuel drive-offs are an ongoing concern with some cases often taking up valuable police time in what turns out to be an oversight.

The Queensland Police Service has launched a one-month SMS and email trial targeting vehicles involved in a suspected fuel drive-off that gives drivers the benefit of the doubt.

A message will prompt owners of vehicles involved to return to the station to pay for the fuel reducing the need for police intervention.

Mackay Crime Prevention Unit Senior Constable Steve Smith said the QPS initiative was a way to streamline the process.

"We receive complaints for this type of thing daily," Snr Const Smith said.

"It is an ongoing issue in Mackay and across the state.

"There are many instances where drive-offs happen unintentionally."

Snr Const Smith said this new system "may be that informal tap on the shoulder" for a driver to return to the service station and fix the situation without the need of a criminal complaint.

The QPS will identify itself in messages issues, which will also contain the registration number of the vehicle involved, the date and time of the drive off and a prompt to contact the service station.

Acting Superintendent Sharee Cumming of the Organisational Capability Command said people leaving service stations and failing to pay for fuel was a significant concern for the QPS.

"Driving off without paying for fuel is a criminal offence," Acting Superintendent Cumming said.

"This can happen for various reasons including being distracted at the pump and then forgetting to pay before driving away.

"The trial is designed to encourage people involved in a fuel drive-off, either inadvertently or on purpose, to pay for their fuel which will reduce the need of our frontline officers to commence investigations into these type of matters in the first instance."

For more information visit the Queensland Police Service.

Originally published as