Bizarre Project Vigilant plans

After the killing of Sarah Everard Home Office plans to protect women by putting plain clothed officers in pubs and nightclubs have been roundly condemned as likely to be ineffective, inappropriate and a waste of police resources.

The plans entitled Project Vigilant were outlined by the government earlier this week and are designed to protect women from predatory men but, as many have pointed out, the problem is far greater on the streets than in night-time venues. Even women jogging in daylight hours complain of harassment and cat-calling.

The most recent statistics from Sussex Police for the 12 months up to March 2020 show that 1,162 women aged 13 and over were sexually assaulted. The incidence of rape of women over 16 shows there were 1,194 reported rapes within those 12 months in Sussex. Sussex had the 13th highest number of sexual assaults and rapes in the country.

The government also intends to double the funding for Safer Streets project which provides measures such as CCTV and better lighting. It will now receive £45m.

BCRP COMMENT

Every nightclub in the city is obliged to have security personnel who are licenced and well trained to look out for predatory males. Many venues also participate in the Ask For Angela scheme whereby women who feel they are in danger can ask for help from bar staff without drawing attention.

Given that night time venues already have trained people operating in plain clothes the addition of police personnel would add very little.