The Sheriff's Office launched a surprise crackdown on fine evaders in Wendouree this week, clamping cars and netting $28,000.
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The joint Sheriff and Victoria Police operation blocked off Norman Street on Thursday and snagged 33 fine evaders with 124 outstanding warrants, valued at a whopping $59,000.
The operation's aim, which used automatic number plate recognition technology, was to catch fine evaders who must pay outstanding debts, such as parking tickets.
Sheriff of Victoria Brendan Facey told The Courier the operation would serve as a reminder to all Ballarat motorists that the Sheriff's Office can be anywhere, at any time.
"This operation was designed to find those people who are deliberately trying to avoid paying their fines, while minimising any inconvenience to other motorists," he said.
Twenty-five people who were caught decided to pay their fines on Thursday, finalising 70 warrants worth more than $28,000.
Three drivers had their wheels clamped in a car park and were required to arrange payments to have the clamps removed.
One driver, who had six fines worth more than $3000, was told that their licence or vehicle registration would be suspended if they did not cough up the owed money within seven days.
"The Sheriff's Office can apply a range of sanctions to ensure that people take responsiblity for their unpaid fines," Mr Facey said.
"Paying your fines is not voluntary.
"If you do incur a fine, contact us to discuss your options and deal with it early before additional penalties apply."
Sheriff's officers have used automatic number plate recognition technology to scan the number plates of passing vehicles to identify fine evades since 2012.
The cameras take images of number plates, and compare these against a list of vehicles with outstanding warrants.
If there is a match, the software notifies the Sheriff’s officer and records the time, date, location and number plate.
These cameras can operate in both mobile and stationary modes.
Sheriff’s officers conduct mobile operations at locations such as car parks by mounting cameras to the exterior of their vehicles and reading number plates as they travel.
The technology can also be set up in a fixed position and used at roadblock operations, such as in Wendouree on Thursday.
You can check whether you have outstanding fines by contacting Civic Compliance Victoria on 1300 221 249. To pay fines, head to fines.vic.gov.au.
