The Victorian government is under fire for stripping Protective Service Officers from train stations despite massive crime spikes.
Labor announced a radical revamp of Victoria’s PSO program last November, ending the decade-old policy of all stations having an evening PSO presence.
The revamp resulted in 119 so-called category 3 train stations being left without any permanent security presence, with PSOs instead patrolling between multiple stations.
However new data shows that more than half of these stations have experienced increased crime over the past year, while 20 stations have seen crime double in the 12 months to March 2026.
The Crime Statistics Agency data shows that across all 119 stations, the number of offences increased from 1,781 to 2,314 over the 12-month period.
Stations with the biggest crime spikes were Keilor Plains, which saw offences skyrocket from 15 to 87 – a 480 per cent increase.
Beaconsfield saw the next highest increase, with a 308 per cent jump in offences, followed by increases of 275 per cent at Gardenvale, 237 per cent at Caroline Springs, 217 per cent at Roxburgh Park and 205 per cent at Albion.
Victoria Police justified the change last November by arguing it would allow the PSOs to be deployed at other crime hotspots.
Under the revamp, 32 category 1 stations received an additional daytime PSO presence, while the remaining 73 category 2 stations continued to have PSOs present during the evenings.
Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said the data showed stripping PSOs from train stations was “reckless”.
“With criminal offending surging on train stations across Melbourne, Labor’s decision to strip PSOs from 119 train stations is reckless and makes no sense,” Ms Wilson said.
The Opposition has pledged to reverse the revamp while also recruiting an additional 3,000 police and reopening closed police stations.
“Under a government I lead, commuters can have confidence that PSOs will be at every metropolitan train station, every night,” Ms Wilson said.