FOOTSCRAY station troublemakers may now think twice following the arrival of armed guards on railway platforms.
Protective Service Officers began patrolling the station last Wednesday in their first assignment outside the city centre.
The first squad of 18 PSOs began at Southern Cross and Flinders Street stations, with the latest batch of 18 assigned to the city and Footscray.
Richmond, North Melbourne, Parliament, Melbourne Central and Dandenong stations are next in line for protection, from 6pm until the last train.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay said Footscray was chosen because of high passenger numbers and existing crime rates.
“I think it’s fair to say that we’ve had some issues with Footscray where people haven’t felt safe, as well as seeing some crime data that’s quite worrying,” Mr Lay said.
The 36 PSOs deployed across the rail network are only a fraction of the 940 pledged by Premier Ted Baillieu before the last election.
The Premier remains hopeful of reaching the target by November 2014, but acting shadow police minister James Merlino said it was well short of the 93 promised by June 30. Mr Merlino said the state budget revealed a cost blowout with $380million already spent on the roll-out.
“Despite the slow recruitment of PSOs, the total cost of the policy has already doubled in just 18 months,” he said.
Greens MLC Colleen Hartland said she was bemused that the Premier’s first visit to Footscray was to launch security guards with guns, not an investment in services.
“This is just a huge diversion from the real safety issue on trains, which is overcrowding,” Ms Hartland said.
“The only cure for that is to increase services, which means spending money on more trains and train drivers, not guns.”
