You might have seen the group of cars stranded on Gillies Street on Friday, following a big haul by Ballarat Sheriff’s Officers.
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They immediately put wheel-clamps on six people and by Friday afternoon five cars were still out there in front of the Ballarat Fish Hatchery.
Using numberplate recognition to make sure nobody slipped through the checks, 25 people were picked up for over 200 outstanding warrants.
“A Sheriff’s operation in Ballarat yesterday has identified 25 people with 213 outstanding warrants valued at more than $85,000,” the department said in a statement.
“Uniformed officers from the Grampians region teamed up with members of Victoria Police for the targeted blitz, focusing on enforcing outstanding debts, with tough sanctions and penalties. The law enforcement officers set up the highly-visible operation on Gillies Street North, Ballarat, with automatic numberplate recognition technology to identify offenders.”
“Six drivers had their wheel clamped as part of the operation and will be required to arrange some form of payment in order to have the wheel clamp removed.”
In the operation over $7000 was also collected on the spot from only six people.
Sheriff of Victoria Brendan Facey said acting on fines earlier would make life easier.
“Ignoring your fines will not make them go away. People with outstanding infringements run the risk of tough sanctions, including wheel-clamping, asset confiscation, licence suspension and even arrest,” he said.
Sheriff’s officers, acting on the authority of the Supreme Court, have wide powers when there are outstanding fines, including full access to cars on private property.
Ballarat police helped with the operation.