South Investigations
News, South East
A female police officer who volunteered to run in plain clothes to catch catcallers has said their behaviour “makes me feel really sort of icky”.
PC Abby Hayward, who works for Surrey Police, said she was honked at twice during a 5km (3-mile) undercover run.
The force’s Jog On campaign sees female police officers running in targeted locations, with uniformed officers on hand nearby to deal with perpetrators who catcall or shout sexually suggestive comments.
PC Hayward said: “When I’m on my own, I don’t have the backup. It just ruins my whole run.”
She added: “As a young female, when I’m going out, mainly on a jog, it’s the staring, the leaning out of the window.”
Other officers involved in the scheme said it is an issue that affects them outside of work.
The campaign also comes after a Surrey County Council survey found that while 94% of female residents asked said they had experienced a form of harassment, nearly half said they had never reported it.
‘It’s not funny’
The spent time with Surrey Police during the Jog On campaign in July, and within 20 minutes, the runners had already experienced harassment.
PC Hayward said that, after getting honked and laughed at by a lorry driver within about 18 minutes and stopping to speak to him, the officers were then harassed again just 15 seconds after restarting their run.
She said: “It’s not funny. I can’t really put it into words, other than it just makes me feel horrible.
“It shows how prevalent it is and how worthwhile this operation is.”
The two people who harassed the runners were educated on street-based harassment and moved on.
A Surrey Police spokesperson said no arrests have specifically been made as a result of the initiative, but that drivers had been stopped to be educated about their behaviour.
Jog On is part of a wider commitment to tackle public space violence against women and girls (VAWG) and uses the same tactics that are in place to deal with predatory behaviour in bars, clubs and town centres.
Jon Vale, Borough Commander at Surrey Police, said: “It’s a big information gap at the moment. We know having spoken to staff that this is an issue for us locally. We know that it’s a significantly under-reported issue nationally as well.
“So part of it for me is getting a much better understanding of this crime type as we move forward.
“It is about engaging with the public and asking them to report their concerns to us, whether that be directly to us, on our website or whether it be via reporting tools such as Street Safe.”
