SEVEN people were arrested and 63 infringement notices issued during a police crackdown on theft, weapons and drug and driving offences in Wyndham.
Police from Werribee, Taskforce Acer and the transit division saturated Werribee, Hoppers Crossing, Point Cook, Tarneit and Wyndham Vale as part of last week’s Operation Lockdown.
Police set up roadblocks at various locations throughout Wyndham, including Old Geelong Road in Hoppers Crossing, and used numberplate recognition technology to check for outstanding fines and warrants, unregistered cars and unlicensed drivers.
Seven people were caught driving while suspended. Three people were found to be driving vehicles with fake numberplates and 15 were caught driving unregistered cars. Police also fined eight unlicensed drivers, eight people for speeding, two for driving while disqualified and four for talking on mobile phones while driving. Two people were caught not wearing a seatbelt.
Police also checked 160 vehicles and executed 1572 warrants with the help of the Sheriff’s office, recovering more than $454,000 in unpaid fines.
Wyndham’s Inspector Cindy Millen said the operation reminded potential offenders police were committed to doing everything they could to create a safer community.
“We’ve had an incredibly positive response from the community and we’re very pleased with the results. Potential offenders should be warned that we will continue to run these types of operation well into the future.”
Wyndham North’s Acting Senior Sergeant Jonathon Parish said the operation was a chance to show the community that police were tackling crime.
He said Inspector Millen had identified residential burglaries, hoon driving and theft from cars as being among the city’s biggest crime problems, and that operations like last week’s were a good way of reducing the crime rate.
