A Victoria Police community sentiment survey has confirmed the urgent need for more Protective Services Officers across the Latrobe Valley.
The survey, which provided residents the opportunity to share their safety concerns, revealed a staggering 77% of survey respondents felt unsafe at train stations at night, and 75% felt unsafe on trains at night.
The Nationals Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron, said the Andrews Labor Government could no longer wilfully ignore the clear need for more PSO resources.
“The Morwell electorate has the highest crime rate of any municipality outside of metropolitan Melbourne, and now the vast majority or residents are telling us they don’t feel safe at train stations,” he said.
“I have repeatedly asked for PSOs to be allocated to stations in the Valley, and repeatedly the calls have been ignored.
“The Labor Government has allocated PSOs to every single one of Melbourne’s 212 train stations while just 4 stations in the whole of regional Victoria have a dedicated PSO presence.
“If it’s good enough for metropolitan Melbourne to have every one of its 212 stations patrolled by PSOs, then this must apply to all stations in the Valley and indeed regional Victoria.
“Recently the Minister for Police suggested it was enough that a handful of PSOs stationed at Traralgon had ‘the opportunity’ to travel to other stations.
“The suggestion that a small contingent of PSOs – who may or may not choose to travel elsewhere – should be responsible for patrolling all the stations is ludicrous and shows how out of touch the Andrews Government is with the needs of regional Victorians.
“The numbers don’t lie, and Labor can’t spin this data any other way – we need more resources in the Valley and we need them now. I am again calling on the Minister for Police to intervene and urgently allocate PSOs to train stations across the Valley.”
