On Monday, more than 50 police from the western suburbs took part in Operation Safe Stations.

InspectorMichael Grainger, of the Hobsons Bay police service area, said the operation formed part of a phased approach over the past year to tackle violent and property crime in and around transport hubs. "An important aspect of what we want to do is combine uniform and plain-clothes police to not only patrol and tackle crime but focus on providing crime prevention advice to our community."

As part of the operation, police saturated areas in and around various railway stations, including Williamstown Beach, Laverton, Newport, Spotswood and Altona, and targeted people behaving in an anti-social or unruly manner.

Altona North's Sergeant Simon Borg said the operation sent out a strong message to offenders that their actions would not be tolerated.

"We want these potential offender groups to know that police activity along train stations is about to change and that the chances of them being caught committing a crime are very high.

"We have been concerned for some time about the level of robberies and assaults on the streets and this operation is the latest in a range of initiatives to address that."

Police also used a a van with closed-circuit television cameras as part of the operation. The van, with five rooftop cameras, was driven around the streets and to certain hot spots.

Sergeant Borg said police also provided commuters with advice and personal safety tips to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of crime.

"We will continue to advise commuters to keep to well-lit streets at night, not to cover both ears when using an MP3 player and to always keep their bags close to them.

"Wallets, cameras and mobile phones should be kept out of sight.

"And if a pedestrian thinks he or she is being followed, they should cross to the other side of the street."

The operation will continue for a week, with more blitzes expected to take place in the Hobsons Bay area in future.