PFCC outlines to Safeguarding Minister an innovative Essex partnership operation to keep women and girls safe on nights out
Last week Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, welcomed Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips MP to Colchester to highlight an innovative policing operation to keep women and girls safe as they enjoy a night out.
Specialist patrols – codenamed Operation Vigilant – have been taking place across Essex since January and use a variety of policing tactics to root out those who seek to prey on women and girls socialising and enjoying the county’s busy night-time economy.
Roger Hirst MBE, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “Maintaining a relentless focus on making sure women and girls feel safe in their local community matters. Essex has, for many years, been a leader in creating collaborative partnerships to tackle violence against women and girls. Several of the actions contained within the cross‑Government strategy to halve violence against women and girls in the next ten years have arisen from the change in approach implemented in our county.
“Alongside support for Essex Police operations, the PFCC has deployed £6.5m of Safer Streets funding and Community Development Fund grants of more than £1.5m to support activity aimed at eliminating such violence. This funding has enabled a series of community education, prevention and intervention projects to be commissioned across Essex.
“It was good to meet and speak with the Minister. The visit was an opportunity to show how police officers are working on the ground to make all our county’s communities safer. Finding ways to continue the positive momentum toward confronting offenders and helping victims seek a better future is something that all partners, at both a local and national level, consider to be an important priority.”
The patrols, carried out by Neighbourhood Policing Teams, use specialist plain clothes officers who look out for telltale signs of those behaving in a predatory way. Those officers immediately flag concerns to uniform colleagues who tackle suspect individuals and safeguard women and girls who may be otherwise be at risk from those intent on doing them harm.
Additionally, Roads Policing Units are also supporting the patrols by stopping vehicles being driven into busy towns and cities by those who have been convicted, arrested, bailed or wanted for sexual or violent offences against women and girls.
The patrols – which are being carried out at weekends in Chelmsford, Colchester, Maldon, Tendring, Braintree, Uttlesford, Rochford/Castle Point, Southend, Harlow, Thurrock, Epping Forest & Brentwood – have so far seen more than 1,500 public interactions carried out by officers on foot, 835 vehicles stopped, 250 people stopped and searched, 198 intelligence reports submitted, 85 arrests and 87 incidents attended.
Roger Hirst MBE was joined by Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington, Colchester District Commander Chief Insp Michelle Sparks, Det Supt Natalia Ross, Chief Insp Carl Habbershaw and Colchester MP Pam Cox.
Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington, who joined the Op Vigilant patrol said: “Tackling violence against women and girls takes all of us – society, policing, local partnerships, prevention.
“Operation Vigilant demonstrates exactly that - tackling VAWG cannot be done by policing alone and requires support from our communities, our businesses – from taxi firms, takeaways to pubs and clubs – our Community Safety Partnerships and local council.
“Operation Vigilant shows how we can are all coming together to keep women and girls safe but also to prevent offences of VAWG before they happen by targeting those that our intelligence or patrols tell us mean to do harm.
“It is not for women and girls to change their behaviour – they should be free to enjoy an evening out without fear of being targeted by a predator. Instead it is those who are intent on causing harm who need to change their behaviour and realise that we are watching and waiting for them, there is no place for them on the streets of Essex.”