Deputy PCC praises operation targeting predatory behaviour to keep women and girls safe on nights out
A new policing operation in Nottingham city centre is aimed at strengthening safety for women and girls on nights out, by proactively disrupting predatory behaviour before a crime is committed.
Plain clothes officers, highly trained to identify clear warning signs of predatory high‑risk sexual behaviour, are now patrolling in busy night‑time hotspots as part of Project Vigilant.
They alert uniformed officers enabling police to intervene early, tackle suspect individuals, and disrupt offending before it escalates into a serious crime.
Our frontline officers are already putting their newly acquired skills to use to help safeguard women and girls who may be otherwise be at risk from those intent on doing them harm.
They will also be on hand to use their expertise to disrupt other types of suspicious or criminal activity, while providing a reassuring presence for the public.
In the last week of our operation alone, our officers carried out 30 stops, based on behaviour displayed by these individuals, and engaged with around 150 members of the public, including talking to them about our work and making sure they felt reassured.
During the course of our patrols we also made two arrests, with one individual arrested for failing to attend court and the other for breaching a sex offender notification requirement.
Our officers also provided anti-spiking drinks covers to female students they engaged with during their deployments.
Nottinghamshire Police obtained funding for this new operation, and the specialist behavioural detection training to upskill our officers, through the Hotspot Action Fund (HAF) - a Home Office-funded initiative overseen by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire.
Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Angela Kandola, who leads on Violence Against Women and Girls, said: “This proactive approach sends a clear message that predatory behaviour will not be tolerated in Nottinghamshire.
“By promoting initiatives like Project Vigilant and equipping officers with the skills to identify and intervene early, we are taking decisive action to better protect women and girls on nights out.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe in our city centres, and this work is a vital part of our wider commitment to tackling violence against women and girls and building safer communities for all.”
Previously, as part of the force’s ‘Walk in My Shoes’ VAWG campaign, more than 3,600 women and girls told us how they feel in Nottinghamshire, and a wide-ranging package of improvements is now underway in partnership with local authorities to address identified areas of concern.
Superintendent Heather Maelor, one of the leads for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) at Nottinghamshire Police’s Prevention Hub, said: “The safety of women and girls across our city and county is of paramount importance to us as a police service. It is vitally important that women and girls feel safe on our streets.
“Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) is a national priority and as you would expect we take all reports of this nature extremely seriously.
“Of course, our Project Vigilant patrols are just a part of our ongoing work and initiatives to improve the safety of women and girls and to prevent offences of VAWG before they happen.
“It is more important than ever that we now work with our partners and communities to tackle VAWG together. Only a partnership approach is going to ensure our communities feel safer in the night-time economy.”
