Police chief tells women to call 999 for wolf-whistling
But police officers say forces should concentrate on real crime as knife and robbery offences rise
A POLICE chief has advised women who are wolf-whistled or catcalled in the street to call 999.
Alison Hernandez, police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, worries that incidents go unreported, leaving the authorities “a bit clueless about the level of the problem”.
In a BBC interview yesterday, the Conservative politician urged women to make emergency calls if “you’ve ever felt unsafe or felt threatened on the street”. She spoke out after she was asked if anything was being done to tackle catcalling.
Rebecca Broad, 24, a freelance writer, said she was “surprised” when Ms Hernandez suggested she should call 999 over verbal abuse in the street during a Twitter exchange in August.
Ms Broad, who said she had been targeted with “unintelligible jeers” and a “horrific rape threat”, asked: “Is anything being done to tackle catcalling…?” Ms Hernandez replied: “I would suggest Rebecca call 999 next time if she feels threatened while out and about.”
Official guidance states that people should only call 999 if “a crime is happening”, or “someone is in immediate danger”, or “a suspect for a serious crime is nearby” or “there is a traffic collision involving injury or danger to other road users”.
Ms Hernandez, elected to her role in 2016, made her stance clear as the Law Commission considered whether misogyny and ageism should be added to the categories that constitute a hate crime.
Ms Hernandez said she would also like an app to be developed to allow women to record or report cases of sexual harassment. “I think there’s a particular need to help educate women to make sure that they do reach out for help if it’s really affecting their lives.”
Ms Broad added: “I think there’s a lot of attention quite rightly on upskirting and indecent exposure and committing sexual assaults, but what most women experience on a more regular basis is street harassment.”
But the drive to tackle hate crime, and non-criminal hate incidents, which can include insulting or offensive comments, has drawn criticism.
Dame Sara Thornton, former head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), has said hate crime investigations risk distracting police from their core role.
At the NPCC’S annual conference last year, she said “gender-based hate incidents” cannot be a priority “for a service that is overstretched”.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph last year, Richard Cooke, the former chairman of West Midlands Police Federation, said officers should “focus urgently on genuine crime”.
“Let’s not encourage people to think we can solve deep social problems,” he added.
Earlier this month, official figures revealed police are solving half as many crimes as four years ago, with under one in 13 offences leading to a prosecution.
Knife crime has risen to a new record, with police recording 44,076 offences last year, the highest total since figures began.
Robbery is now at its highest level since 2007, increasing by 76 per cent in four years.