Sheriff’s officers use a variety of means to get in contact with people who have outstanding warrants (defendants). Officers can locate individual defendants by going directly to their homes or workplaces. They also stage targeted operations (such as roadblocks) to identify people with outstanding warrants. These operations regularly result in the identification of a large number of defendants.

Roadblock operations

Roadblock operations can include multi-agency participation involving VicRoads, Victoria Police and the Victorian Taxi Directorate. During these operations, sheriff’s officers canvas a large number of vehicles, and in doing so identify those that are connected to outstanding warrants.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology

Sheriff’s officers use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to identify vehicles registered to owners who have outstanding warrants. These 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.

For further information about this technology, see the Automatic Number Plate Recognition page.