Staying vigilant: plain clothes police to patrol the streets in bid to make nights out safer for all

PLAINCLOTHES police officers will patrol Reading town centre from next week as Thames Valley Police expands its “pioneering” programme to tackle violence against women and girls.

Project Vigilant will see uniformed and non-uniformed officers hit the streets from Monday, June 21 to reduce sexual offending, working with town centre venues to spot predatory behaviour.

It follows a Government push to improve women’s security and detective chief inspector James Senior said the force is “confident” it will see positive results.

“Until we’re in a position where nobody is sexually assaulted or raped in our night time economy, we’re not going to be happy,” he said.

“Thames Valley Police is pioneering in this area, and a lot of forces are trying to catch up with what we’re doing.”

A watchful eye

The project aims to make Reading town centre a safe space for people enjoying a night out at the pubs, clubs and bars.

Uniformed and nonuniformed officers will patrol the town centre to identify predatory behaviours such as loitering, sexual harassment and inappropritate touching — but they will not enter any venues.

Instead, the force will work with pub staff and taxi drivers who will report unusual behaviour.

“The Home Office has made it very clear that tackling violence against women and girls is at the forefront of its strategy,” DCI Senior said.

Businesses sign up

According to Thames Valley Police, a lot of businesses have been eager to help with the project.

“They have really bought into this,” the detective chief inspector said.

“Project Vigilant isn’t just a ‘one man band’ where the police are saying ‘we’re going to save the world’. It’s a joint approach because we can’t solve this problem alone.

“If we make the streets really safe but someone can’t go into a bar or club without being harassed, it doesn’t solve the problem.”

In the future, the force may also lead a training programme to support venue staff identifying unusual behaviour.

A long-term approach

And DCI senior said the project is not just focused on tackling sexual assault in the moment, but reducing the risk to women in the long-term.

“We are also looking to develop it in other areas,” he added. “There is scope to have this operation evolve [because] it can move around easily, so we will divert resources accordingly.”

At the moment, the initiative is focused on keeping the streets safe at night, but he said it could be extended to other public events in the future, including Reading Festival.

Clearing up misconceptions

The launch of Project Vigilant follows a pilot programme held in Oxford in 2019, which saw a 50% reduction in rape and a 30% reduction in sexual assaults in the night time economy.

DCI Senior said at the time, there were “a few misconceptions” about what the initiative hopes to achieve — and has stressed it will keep people safe.

“There was a suggestion that plainclothes officers would approach vulnerable women,” he said.

“But officers will identify predatory behaviour and uniformed officers will then come along to engage.

“We want to reassure people that they will not be approached by anybody claiming to be a police officer, but rather by friendly, uniformed, male and female officers.”

He said he is sure next week’s relaunch in Reading will be a success.

“I’m confident that the tactics we adopted in Oxford are scalable and we will see the same types of results in other areas,” he said.

“It’s perpetrator-focused and moves away from victim blaming, instead putting the onus on the perpetrators out there.”

Thames Valley Police is also expanding Project Vigilant to Windsor and Maidenhead on Friday, June 25.

We are here to help

As pub-goers return to Reading town centre this summer, DCI Senior is now encouraging residents to contact the force if they feel in danger.

“If you’re on your own and don’t feel safe, the expectation is that the officers dedicated to this project will be able to assist you,” he said.

“We can also signpost people onto other charities and organisations that can help. If we can’t respond immediately, CCTV will help us to follow that up.”

Anybody who sees somebody acting suspiciously is urged to call Thames Valley Police on 101, or 999 in an emergency, or approach an officer.