Petrol drive-off surge prompts warning from SA police chief to retailers
Police data shows there were 221 fuel thefts across SA last week, up from 162 the previous week. (ABC News: Erin Parke)
In short:
Fuel thefts have surged in South Australia amid rising petrol prices caused by the Middle East war.
South Australian police say the onus is on the industry to take stronger steps to prevent drive-offs.
The industry has pushed back against the comments, saying the cost of introducing pre-paid pumps would be passed on to consumers.
South Australia's police commissioner is warning fuel retailers that police could stop investigating petrol drive-offs unless service stations urgently implement pre-paid pumps, after a surge in thefts.
But industry bodies have hit back at the idea, with one describing it as "completely irresponsible" and saying it was tantamount to a "green light to fuel theft".
Police data shows there were 221 fuel thefts across the state last week, compared to 162 the week before.
"A substantial number of people — 97 — have done it [for] what we would describe as the first time," SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens told 891 ABC Adelaide.
"That's a significant increase in the rate of first offenders."
The Middle East war is driving up oil prices, which has significantly increased fuel costs.
The commissioner said rising prices were likely to lead to increases in other types of crime, including number plate theft, vehicle break-ins for fuel cards, and fuel siphoning.
"This takes police away from other responsibilities that we could be attending to, so we are calling on the retail fuel industry to take positive steps to prevent this virtually overnight by implementing pre-paid, which is something they have within their capacity to do," he said.
"Given the prevalence of petrol stations becoming convenience stores, I'm also questioning whether that is a genuine reason to allow people to take possession of the product you're selling them prior to providing any money."
Commissioner Stevens says fuel thefts are a drain on police resources. (ABC News: Dean Faulkner)
The commissioner said while he could not compel the industry to take steps, it was within his powers to direct police to stop taking reports of fuel theft, in order to prevent them from "being a drain on police resources".
"If you're entering into a contract with someone, on the promise that they'll pay for the goods that you provided them, and they fail to pay, I believe there's an argument that that's a civil debt — you've entered into an agreement, that person hasn't honoured the agreement," he said.
"What you do about that afterwards is a matter for yourself, it's not a police matter. That's the consideration I am following.
"We have seen reports for this type of crime for years, or probably decades, and I know that I have been agitating for years to see something more proactive from the industry.
"If you were foolish enough to leave your TV out the front of your house every single day, and have it stolen, there would come a point in time where we'd say, 'We're not taking a report from you for that'."
'Wash their hands of theft'
Industry bodies have pushed back against the commissioner's stance, with the Motor Trade Association saying it was not "a very productive message to get out there".
"While I accept that police do have to prioritise their workload, I do think it's disappointing that we are discussing potentially not taking reports at all," general manager of marketing and policy Kaes Cillessen said.
"The public — they don't get to chose which laws they comply with."
Petrol prices have surged since the start of the Middle East war. (Supplied: Marek Studzinski on Unsplash)
Mr Cillessen said while some retailers had pre-paid pumps, it was "not a simple thing to just put in pre-paid instantly".
"There are plenty of other businesses, such as restaurants, where people don't pay up front, and I think for fuel retailers and the industry — they are willing to be able to work together with police and the government on this," he said.
Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association CEO Rowan Lee said fuel theft was a "really serious and costly problem for retailers", and described the commissioner's comments as "pretty disturbing".
"It could be perceived to be giving a green light to fuel theft and drive-offs," he said.
"I never thought police would wash their hands of what is essentially theft.
"I mean, where do we go next? Do we say it's up to Bunnings to make sure no-one steals from them and that anyone who steals from Bunnings — we're not going to bother tracking them down?"
Mr Lee said pre-paid pumps cost about $5,000 each, and the cost of making them mandatory would be passed onto consumers through the price of fuel.
He said consumers on average spent about $83 when filling up, but about 40 per cent of fuel retailers' incomes came from in-store purchases.
"If you're not making income, you're not employing people, so you're going to have thousands of people out of a job potentially because people aren't walking into a store to buy other products," he said.
"It's not like we're asking police stand at every bowser and make sure that people pay.
"It's just that to send a message that it's not something we're even going to bother looking at is just completely irresponsible in my mind."
But police said the onus was on the industry to take stronger steps.
"We've been debating with the fuel industry for years in relation to this," Commissioner Stevens said.
"While I acknowledge they've put measures in such as CCTV, number plate recognition and other measures that help us identify the offenders, it doesn't actually assist us in mitigating this from a crime point of view.
"Rather than investigate and follow up, we'd rather prevent the crime completely."
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