By VANESSA VALENZUELA
AFTER months of anticipation, Protective Service Officers (PSOs) have arrived in Brimbank with the armed guards patrolling St Albans and Sunshine railway stations every night.
The PSOs landed at St Albans railway station on 17 December last year and another team of officers were welcomed at Sunshine station earlier this week.
Brimbank’s Acting Inspector Tim O’Connor said PSOs will be trained and rolled out across stations in the municipality over the coming months.
“They will be there to provide visibility and security to people using the public transport network. They’ve got responsibility for the railway station platforms and railway infrastructure like the car parks,” he said.
“From what we received back anecdotally from the public is that they have been welcomed and will provide more security.”
Western Metropolitan Andrew Elsbury met the new PSOs at St Albans Railway Station last month and said he believes they will provide a significant boost for safety in the area.
“We now have more than 230 PSOs deployed to the rail network across Melbourne from 6pm to last train even night and it is great to see them arrive in St Albans,” Mr Elsbury said.
“Feedback from the community since the deployment of PSOs in February has been overwhelmingly positive, with a recent survey of night time train users showing that 80 per cent of respondents strongly agreed that PSOs patrolling railways stations is a good idea.”
St Albans Business Association President Sebastian Agricola said the PSOs will provide more security for residents and traders in the surrounding area.
“I think this is a great idea, it will be a sort of visible security at the railway stations,” Mr Agricola said.
“To have them here is a very positive thing and it will bring confidence to the nearby residents and traders.”
