source : the age
The father of a 15-year-old at one of Sydney’s oldest boys schools has petitioned the NSW Parliament to install more security cameras at high-risk bus stops after his son was punched in the face on a Sunday afternoon in Hunters Hill.
Riverview student Jordan Herrera-Hu was travelling back home at 4.15pm on August 16 following an afternoon visiting Burwood when a man came up and punched him and threatened his twin brother, Jason.
“My boys arrived at the bus stop and within seconds, the guy just went for them and punched Jordan,” his father Jose Herrera Perea said.
He rushed to the aid of his sons on Gladesville Road, where they were already on the phone to the police.
But a month later, he realises it is unlikely he or the police will ever find the identity of the man who attacked him due to a lack of CCTV at the bus stop where he was hit.
“I believe the police really care genuinely, but they don’t have the tools and resources to do better,” he said.
In a bid to assist them with their duties, he has launched a petition in the NSW Parliament seeking the installation of CCTV at more bus stops.
The petition calls on the government to:
1. Conduct a statewide bus-stop safety and CCTV assessment.
2. Establish and fund a targeted, risk-based installation program.
3. Publish clear selection criteria, funding commitments and an implementation timetable.
4. Assign responsibility for funding, installation, ownership, operation and maintenance among Transport for NSW, councils and transport operators.
5. Set consistent privacy, cybersecurity, signage and footage-retention standards.
6. Ensure NSW Police can promptly request, preserve and lawfully access footage when investigating alleged offences.
It would include those heavily used by schoolchildren, high-patronage stops and interchanges, locations with reported assaults or recurring incidents, those which were isolated locations and stops serving late-night routes.
According to Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures, there were 407 assaults at NSW bus premises in the 12 months to June last year, equating to seven a week across NSW.
In the weeks after the attack, Herrera Perea said his sons were hesitant to be out in the street alone. “What Jordan struggles with the most is that this man is never going to be caught,” he said.
“We teach our children if they do something wrong, there will be consequences.”
To reach the 20,000 signatures in a two-week timeframe to trigger a debate in the NSW Parliament, he’s been posting on local Facebook sites as well as Riverview’s year 9 parent group chat.
At home, the family discussed the possibility of self-defence training. Herrera Perea says he has heard from other parents about attacks and realised the problem was widespread.
“Even what happened to my son, he was lucky. He was lucky – he doesn’t have any bones broken,” he said.
“I also want to show my children don’t make a big thing and life is about perspective and some stories are much more horrible.”
Transport Minister John Graham said there was CCTV at some bus stops and continue to make investments that improve safety at and around public transport hubs.
“Everyone deserves to be safe when using public transport, my sympathy goes to the boys and their family,” he said.
“The vast majority of bus stops are on council land and decisions about further safety measures would need to be made in cooperation with individual councils.”
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