By Belinda Nolan
BRIMBANK’S train stations have become notorious crime hotspots, with one offence committed on the municipality’s trains, platforms or carparks every three days.
Statistics provided to Star by Victoria Police have revealed more than 130 crimes were committed at Brimbank’s train stations over the past financial year, with Sunshine and Albion emerging as the city’s worst railway crime scenes.
Between July 2009 and June this year, 139 crimes were recorded in Brimbank’s train stations, including 41 assaults, 16 robberies and 14 weapons and explosives offences.
Police also investigated 38 cases of property damage, 15 drugs charges and five incidents involving criminal behaviour in public.
A whopping 83 offences were committed at the Sunshine or Albion railway stations, followed by St Albans and Ginifer stations with 43 crimes recorded within a 12-month period.
Meanwhile, a total of 13 crimes were committed at Sydenham’s Watergardens station during the same time frame.
But Brimbank police Inspector Michael Grainger said the figures were just the tip of the iceberg, with more crimes committed in areas surrounding the city’s stations, rather than the stations themselves.
“It’s a bit of a misnomer that crime is committed at the transport hubs, when in fact, what we’re finding is that most crimes occur as people are moving away from the stations,” Insp Grainger said.
“I think the social disadvantage we have in Brimbank is certainly a factor in crimes around transport hubs because people committing these crimes are using public transport as their primary mode of transport.”
The majority of crimes around the city’s train stations are committed by youth. Insp Grainger said Brimbank police were cracking down hard on crimes around train stations, with numerous operations conducted over the past year.
In July this year, Transit Police were relocated to the municipality in a bid to ease pressure on uniformed police.
The two teams from Flinders St are now based at the Sunshine Police Station and patrol the Sunshine and Albion stations.
Insp Grainger said the Transit team had been moved to Brimbank for a trial period, pending a review in January.
He said Brimbank police would be fighting hard to retain the team, which he claimed was already making a difference in the municipality.
“We’re at the cutting edge in terms of getting these guys down into the burbs,” Insp Grainger said.
“From time to time, they also respond to emergency calls when our guys are tied up and we’re getting some really positive results.
“We still have some work to do around the transport hubs, but I’m confident that we’re making great progress.”
