Daytime PSOs at stations across Melbourne, including Box Hill

Protective Services Officers have been a great success in keeping our stations safe and giving people the confidence to travel at night.  This Liberal Nationals move to have PSOs during the daytime at Box Hill station will help keep the station and its surrounds safer and support the work of local police. It’s one of the Liberals’ reforms to get crime back under control and make Victoria safe again.

Here’s the media release issued by Shadow Minister for Police, Edward O’Donohue, and me giving further details.

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Monday 15 October 2018

Make Victoria Safe: More PSOs for Box Hill Station

Every Victorian deserves to be safe and feel safe while using public transport.

An elected Liberal Nationals Government will increase the number of PSOs at Box Hill Railway Station to keep Victorians safe on public transport.

Commuters will benefit from a second, day time, shift of PSOs as part of the additional 100 transit PSOs under a Liberal Nationals Government.

At the moment, PSO shifts are from 6pm until the last train.

An elected Liberal Nationals Government will introduce a new and additional daytime shift between 10am and 6pm for up to 20 railway stations, including Box Hill.

As one of the busiest stations on the metropolitan network, having PSOs at Box Hill station during daytime hours will deter and prevent crime and help ensure commuters can travel in safety.

Daytime PSOs will also work in conjunction with local police in detecting and preventing crime, and catching offenders, around the Box Hill station precinct, where drug dealing and other street offences are an ongoing concern.

Despite initially criticising PSOs and labelling them “plastic police”, Labor has kept this successful policy.

An elected Liberal Nationals Government will work with Victoria Police and The Police Association Victoria to recruit and deploy 100 new PSOs on the new daytime Transit PSO roster.  

Frontline police numbers have fallen under Daniel Andrews with Police Association figures showing there are now 190 fewer uniform officers than in 2013 despite Victoria’s population increasing by over half a million people.

Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Community Safety, Edward O’Donohue:

“A Liberal Nationals Government will make Victoria safer.

We are going to put more police on the beat and more PSOs at train stations like Box Hill Railway Station.

If we are going to encourage more people to use more public transport then we need to make sure users are safe and feel safe. 

That’s why our policy is more frontline police, more PSOs, tougher sentences and to make bail and parole harder to get.”

Comments attributable to Member for Box Hill, Robert Clark:

“The Liberal team, led by Matthew Guy, is committed to ensuring the safety of commuters using Box Hill station.

Having daytime PSOs will help ensure travellers can be safer and feel safer at Box Hill station, knowing that uniformed officers are there on the spot to help whenever needed.”