THE THAMES VALLEY has seen a drop in night-time offences, following the launch of a plainclothes police officer project.
On Monday, June 21, Thames Valley Police kickstarted Project Vigilant in Reading, Windsor, Oxford and Milton Keynes.
Now, it has reported that stranger rapes and sexual violence linked to the night-time economy have fallen by 77% and 12.5% respectively since Friday, July 23.
Project Vigilant is a pioneering programme orchestrated by Thames Valley Police which sees a combination of uniformed and plainclothes officers patrol areas outside of clubs, pubs and bars.
It was founded to better identify people displaying predatory behaviour, including sexual harassment, inappropriate touching and loitering.
Detective chief inspector James Senior, the force lead for the scheme, said the latest statistics are “reassuring” news.
“It is reassuring to see that [Project Vigilant] is contributing to reducing the number of sexual offences in the night-time economy, ensuring we are able to protect and safeguard our communities,” he said.
“Retaining the public’s trust and confidence in the police is particularly vital at the moment and [this programme] is just one way in which the force is working hard to do this.”
The project sees plain clothed officers alert those in uniform to anybody showing suspicious behaviours.
Uniformed officers then stop those who have been identified and take “positive action”, including arrest if necessary.
So far, 99 people across Reading, Windsor, Milton Keynes and Oxford have been stopped and nine arrests have been made.
“We’ve stopped 99 people in this time period for varying degrees of predatory behaviour which included unwanted contact towards women and harassment,” DCI Senior said.
“By us taking positive action against this type of behaviour, we’re making it clear that it will not be tolerated.
“Everyone stopped and arrested as part of this initiative is considered for further action or support to address their behaviour.”
Earlier this year, Thames Valley Police was awarded £90,000 by the Home Office to fund a dedicated sergeant to coordinate Project Vigilant, as well as commission an academic evaluation of the scheme by Brighton University.
The study is ongoing and will identify areas where the force can improve engagement with the programme.
“We are committed to continuing this project with our partners in order to make our communities safer and prevent offences from taking place,” the DCI added.
