By Laura Wakely and Xavier Smerdon
ONLY 20.2 per cent of people feel safe on public transport in Brimbank at night, while 71.3 per cent feel safe during the day.
The figures obtained exclusively by Star come from the National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing, which details community perceptions of police in the 12 months to September 2011.
Public transport in the Brimbank Police Service Area (PSA) was ranked the sixth most unsafe service to use during the day and the fourth most unsafe to use during the night out of the 54 PSAs in Victoria.
Brimbank PSA Inspector Mick Grainger said he was concerned about the figures.
“It is really difficult,” Insp Grainger said.
“We’ve got quite an excellent relationship with local government, we work with them on environmental design, things like that.
“Despite our best efforts, sometimes we come out under benchmark figures.” The average safety rating for public transport in Victoria during the day was 83.1 per cent, while at night it was 35.5 per cent.
Insp Grainger said many crimes were occurring away from the major railway stations, like Sunshine, at smaller stations and bus stops.
He said in the past year transit police had permanently joined Sunshine police station, which he hoped would make a difference to perceptions of safety on public transport.
“The perception and reality are sometimes different and that’s the bit we’ve got to get better at,” Insp Grainger said.
“We need a strategy now to communicate with our public about what we’ve been doing.”
He is also hoping additional police coming into the area over the next few years will increase perceptions of safety, along with the protective service officers (PSOs) being employed by the Baillieu Government.
But a spokesperson for Police Minister Peter Ryan told Star stations in the Brimbank area could be waiting until November 2014 to see some of the 940 PSOs being recruited.
“The first 21 recruits have started training at the Glen Waverley Police Academy with 93 PSOs to be recruited by 30 June 2012, and the remaining PSOs thereafter,” the spokesperson said.
“The roll-out of PSOs across every metropolitan train station and major regional centres from 6pm until last train every night will be determined by Police Command based on operational demands,” the spokesperson added.
