By Alesha Capone and Laura Wakely
A POLICE survey has revealed almost three quarters of commuters who use Maribyrnong’s public transport system feel unsafe at night.
Statistics exclusively obtained by Star revealed only 26.1 per cent of people who travel on the area’s trains, trams and buses feel secure during the evening.
This put Maribyrnong in the top 10 areas, across the state, perceived as unsafe after dark – compared to Melbourne, where 48 per cent of commuters felt safe at night.
The statistics were included in the National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing, which covered the 12 months until September this year.
Star obtained the survey through a Freedom of Information request.
Although only 26 per cent of people felt safe travelling on Maribyrnong’s public transport network at night, other municipalities in the West were rated worse.
Only 14 per cent of commuters reported feeling safe at night in Wyndham, 19.6 per cent in Hobsons Bay and 20.2 per cent in Brimbank.
However, more than 85 per cent of Maribyrnong commuters said they felt safe on public transport during the day, the highest ranking in the West.
Maribyrnong police also recorded a 67 per cent ‘customer satisfaction’ rating across the 12 months, the lowest in the state – compared to the rest of the West’s police service areas, which all scored above 75 per cent.
Maribyrnong Police Acting Inspector Steve Reynolds said the amount of people who felt unsafe at night on public transport was a concern.
“We’re certainly conscious it is high-risk at night and people feel less safe at night, and we target that in a variety of different ways such as proactive operations and patrols and we try and be highly visible, so people can see us,” he said.
“It’s a range of things, graffiti, public order and anti-social behaviour, drug dealing, there have been some robberies. It is a wide range of issues and that is certainly something we do target in a variety of ways.
Insp Reynolds said he was pleased Maribyrnong had the best ranking in the West, for people who felt safe on public transport in the day time.
“That figure is obviously encouraging, but we certainly aim to achieve a higher threshold than that, in terms of people feeling safe at public transport hubs during the day,” he said.
“If you see suspicious behaviour, call us. Be mindful of your surroundings and don’t have anything valuable on display, put it in a bag.”
