- Published:
- Friday 11 January 2019
Protective Services Officers (PSOs) will be deployed on trams for the first time to help keep tennis fans safe during the 2019 Australian Open.
The PSOs will patrol trams and trains from 7am until after midnight, boosting safety for hundreds of thousands of fans who will use public transport to get to and from the Australian Open.
Mobile PSO teams will travel on tram route 70, on trains, and be stationed at Richmond and Flinders Street railway stations throughout the day and night.
PSOs will complement the work of our hard-working Authorised Officers and Yarra Trams customer service staff during the Australian Open.
There will also be a boosted police presence at Melbourne Park for the two-week event, with both uniform and plain clothes police to crack down on disruptive, anti-social and criminal behaviour.
The increased Victoria Police and PSO presence will complement significant venue security at the sporting precinct and follows a trial of PSOs patrolling tram stops during last year’s Australian Open.
PSOs on trams, first outlined in the Andrews Labor Government’s Community Safety Statement, builds on the deployment of PSOs on trains which commenced in September 2018.
It has been made possible because of the Labor Government’s $2 billion investment in police and community safety, which included an additional 100 mobile PSOs for deployment across Victoria’s public transport system.
New laws were also introduced last year, to give PSOs the power to arrest people who have breached their parole, conduct searches for illicit drugs, and request names and addresses from people who witness crime.
The additional powers boost PSOs ability to reduce harm and improve public safety, by giving them a more active community safety role.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Police and Emergency Services Lisa Neville
“As the tennis world flocks to Melbourne to celebrate the Australian Open, police officers and Protective Services Officers will be out in force to keep the community safe.”
“This is part of our record investment in more police and PSOs, enhanced security measures and more effective laws to keep the community safe.”