Parramatta's police commander says the city's rail/bus interchange is "pretty safe" with a seven per cent decrease in the number of assaults in the vicinity being recorded during March.
Superintendent Robert Redfern was commenting on a story in the Sun (April 9) which suggested the station and its surrounds were among the state's most dangerous with 43 assaults and 49 robberies reported between December 2006 and November 2007.
Parramatta was in the top five on the list of crime statistics from the police transport policy. Stations on the City Circle line were at the top of the list while Blacktown, Campbelltown and Penrith stations were also in the top five.
"Any commander is always concerned when there are a large number of assaults at his command," superintendent Redfern said.
"These are just numbers. I would love the number to be zero but you have got to see the figures in context.
"Parramatta is probably the second largest transport interchange after Central Station in Sydney. Hundreds of thousands of people go through there.
Superintendent Redfern said the police had a "very large" commuter crime unit at Wentworthville and officers regularly travelled on trains and worked with State Rail transit police.
"We are not sitting on our hands and being idle," he said.
"As [Parramatta] council's crime prevention plan shows, this is an area where there is crime so we focus on those things."
Superintendent Redfern described the crime figures for March 2008 as a positive sign that the police were making inroads.
"Relatively speaking the transport interchange in Parramatta is a pretty safe place to be.
"There are also links with people travelling on public transport who have been at licenced premises and get then involved in fights when they are trying to get home," he said.