Victoria Police would like to reassure the community that travelling on public transport is not as dangerous as media reports sensationally claimed this week.

There are many operations underway to ensure public safety remains paramount on our public transport system, including the high-visibility Safe Stations Taskforce targeting trouble spots in and around transport hubs and railway stations in the metropolitan area.

Uniform police and transit members supported by a range of specialist police have been patrolling in and around target areas in addition to traffic operation members and booze buses.

There's a perception that travelling on trains, especially outside peak time, is a dangerous thing to do. That's simply not true. From Sunshine to Dandenong, Footscray to Frankston, police are patrolling our train stations, trains and surrounding areas during peak hours and at night, to deter potential criminals.

There is no doubt crime is declining and police are working harder than ever to stamp out bad behaviour. The crime statistics we have show that some offences are declining, and some are increasing. We have to take into account that 518 million trips were taken on public transport by Victorian commuters in 2008/09, up from 475 million in 2007/08. This statistic cannot be ignored and provides a reason to release statistics based on per million trips.

Police are working hard to drive down crime every day of the year. The following statistics indicate that the hard work is beginning to pay off.

• Theft from the motor vehicle offences declined from 1907 in 2007-08 to 1497 in 2008-09, a decrease of 21%.
• Theft of motor vehicle fell from 1164 to 956 in the same period, down 18%.
• Incidents of assault are down from 1229 to 1152, year on year, down 6%. Property damage increased from 1392 to 1418, up 2%.
• Reports of robbery increased from 338 to 349, up 3%.
• Overall, the number of offences recorded dropped from 9653 to 9412 during the past financial year.

These figures are encouraging but there is still much more work to be done. Crime is declining and police are working harder than ever to stamp out bad behaviour. A lot of crime is both opportunistic and preventable. Small changes to the way you go about your lives can make a huge difference.

Removing your GPS or valuables from the car, making sure your doors and windows are locked, and using one way screws on your number plates are all easy steps which will help reduce crime. Our police will continue to enhance community confidence in policing and to send a clear message to offenders that their actions will not be tolerated.

If you witness a crime being committed on the Public Transport System/property report it immediately by ringing 000. Any other suspicious behaviour can be reported by ringing Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

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