Police crackdown on sexual harassment

Project saw 50 men stopped for their predatory behaviour

Thames Valley Police stopped 50 people in Windsor over the course of eight months as part of a crackdown on predatory behaviour.

As part of Project Vigilant, between 23 July 2021 to 23 March 2022, 201 men were stopped across the Thames Valley, with 50 of these in Windsor.

One in five of those stopped had prior links to offending related to violence against women and girls.

Of all the stops, 27 men were stopped for harassment, stalking and unwanted behaviour towards women; and 37 men were stopped loitering near to places where predatory behaviour and sexual offending has occurred in the past.

Of those stopped, six arrests were made for a variety of sexual offending and harassing behaviour.

As a result of the project, women have approached officers to report domestic abuse and sexual offending.

This has led to arrests for violence against women and girls, relating to incidents they may otherwise have never reported, the police said.

By working with partners, the police were able to identify more opportunities to intervene, including incidents flagged by

CCTV operators and door staff.

The force has used Home Office SWAN (Safety of Women At Night) funding to recruit a dedicated Sergeant to coordinate Project Vigilant force-wide.

It is overseeing an evaluation of the project and this will allow the police to further develop and improve the initiative.

In addition, this funding has been used to train 95 officers in behavioural detection. Only highly trained and accredited resources deploy as part of the project.

Detective Chief Inspector James Senior, force tactical lead for Project Vigilant, said: “I hope that this sends a clear message to potential offenders that this behaviour is not tolerated.

“We want to make the Thames Valley a hostile place for those that may be thinking of committing an offence.

“The operation aims to build public confidence, particularly in women being able to make reports to us.”

Officers have also been working with British Transport Police (BTP) who are piloting Project Vigilant for the first time to conduct joint deployments across the railway network in the Thames Valley.

BTP Chief Inspector John Angell said:

“Project Vigilant has already seen some really promising results.

“We encourage anyone who experiences or witnesses any form of sexual harassment on the railway to report it to us by texting 61016.

“No report is small or trivial and we will always take you seriously.

“Each report we receive provides us with valuable information which we can use to build a picture of an offender. Often it allows us to notice a pattern of offending behaviour and we will take action.”