Broadmeadows tops Hume list for station crimes but well behind state’s worst

DRUGS, assaults, deception and property offences are among crimes reported at Hume stations. So, which station ‘tops’ the list.

PSOs at Broadmeadows station.

SIXTY-SIX crimes have been recorded at train stations in and around Hume across a year-long period.

Broadmeadows station accounted for 23 of the offences, as reported to police between July last year and June this year.

Offences were mostly “justice procedures” such as people caught for failing to answer bail, contravening family violence orders and giving police a false name – which put Broadmeadows at 10th-highest on the list of Melbourne stations.

Dandenong topped the list of suburban stations with 123 crimes.

According to the Crime Statistics Agency, in the past financial year there were 11 crimes at Craigieburn station, 10 in Sunbury, four at Roxburgh Park, two in Jacana and one in Diggers Rest.

The two stations on the Craigieburn line before Jacana – Glenroy and Oak Park – had nine crimes between them.

There were six offences at Upfield station, bringing the total number of crimes at stations in and around Hume to 66 for the 12 months – including five for drugs, 13 “crimes against the person” such as assaults, and 12 property and deception offences.

During 2012-13 there were 83 crimes committed at the railway hubs.

During this period, Protective Services Officers started patrolling most of the stations during the ­evenings.

Last week the State Opposition’s Police and Community Safety spokesman Ed O’Donohue said commuters using the Broadmeadows station at night deserved to feel safe, but that Premier Daniel Andrews only delivered “excuses and the blame game”.

But Police Minister Lisa Neville said there had been a small reduction in offences at Broadmeadows station.

“We will continue to monitor community safety issues for commuters and ensure that our police and PSOs can respond to and prevent crime as effectively as possible,” she said.