There are no victims without perpetrators - Vigilant communities rolled out across Wiltshire

"We know that nearly all serious sexual offenders have carried out non-contact sexual offences such as stalking, indecent exposures and voyeurism. We want to create 'Vigilant Communities' that can help us to gather intelligence on those individuals who make women and girls feel frightened and vulnerable. When someone becomes a victim of sexual violence, we are already too late." Detective Inspector Troy Smith.

Typically, police forces see a rise in indecent exposure reports across the country around this time of year and similar to previous years, Wiltshire has received a number of reports of stranger approaches and concerning sexualised behaviour in public spaces. These ranged in location from beauty spots to busy town centres and public transport.“ 

Wiltshire Police is rolling out a project called Vigilant Communities, working with Neighbourhood Policing Teams, local authorities, CCTV operators, local companies and community groups. They will receive detailed training and advice on how to spot predatory behaviour and how best to report it.

This includes behaviours that may have already been witnessed on the street such as:

• A sober man hanging around outside a pub, approaching drunk women, seemingly at random.
• The same car circling around the local nightclub, youth club, school or college, or a car with male driver and passengers parked up with seemingly no reason to be there
• An intoxicated woman being led along the street by a sober man. He has his arm around her shoulders steering her along the pavement
• A group of men loitering outside a café of takeaway, watching, or making comments to women and girls as they pass by.

Wiltshire Police want people to report when something does not feel right to help gather intelligence on those who pose a risk of causing sexual harm in our communities. This can be reported through the Wiltshire Police website or by calling 101, giving as much information as possible and mentioning ‘Vigilant Communities’ so that the right people receive your message.

DI Troy Smith said: "It's a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. We are trying to collect all the pieces to complete the picture and we need everyone to help us do this. 

"If someone is assaulted, they must live on with the trauma, left to cope with feelings of shame, guilt, anger, resentment, fear, shame, isolation. 

"I would like to reassure the public that Wiltshire Police can never have too much community intelligence coming in and things may take time to develop. So, if you do not receive a response to the information you give to Vigilant Communities, please do not feel it is being ignored. It may be that more information comes in at a later date that we will be able to link together.

"We want to drive down sexual violence and make our Wiltshire streets a hostile place for predators to operate. Having vigilant guardians in our communities will make a real difference and help us keep people safe."

Across Wiltshire and Swindon, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner is funding free Welfare and Vulnerability Engagement (WAVE) and Licensing SAVI training to night-time economy staff across Wiltshire and Swindon. 

The training helps them to better identify customers who are vulnerable and make appropriate interventions. It also gives staff a better awareness of potential drink spiking and an understanding of the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme, which is in place in many venues in the county. 

The training sits within the Police and Crime Commissioner's priority to create safer streets in Wiltshire, which has already seen Home Office money invested to fund night-time economy wardens in Trowbridge and Salisbury on Friday and Saturday nights as well as providing funding for four deployable CCTV cameras in Salisbury, additional CCTV in Chippenham town centre and improved lighting and CCTV in Swindon. 

Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson said:  "This training brings together venues across Wiltshire and Swindon to allow them to take responsibility for their customers and create safer and more supportive environments. 

"Coupled with the provision of wardens in two of the busiest night-time economy areas in Wiltshire and significant funding to improve lighting and CCTV capabilities, we’re working with our partners and taking steps to improve the night-time experience for our residents" 

DCI Thorne who leads the VAWG team at Wiltshire Police added: “We have previously discussed our commitment to recommendations from the Angiolini Inquiry which relates to the inquiry into Wayne Couzens who brutally murdered Sarah Everard after abducting her in a public place, we know from that inquiry Couzens committed indecent exposures prior to Sarah's abduction.

"To ensure our officers are fully equipped and skilled to respond to reports of this kind, we have launched a new non-contact sexual offences policy and officer investigation guide.

“This includes guidance around the evidential link between this type of offending and higher level sexual offending.

“This new policy is informed by academic research through Operation Soteria, the Government’s transformational programme to improve how we investigate sexual offences.

"We are committed in Wiltshire to do all we can to make our community safer for all of the public with a particular focus on women and girls. We ask for the community's help in identifying those behaviour types you may see and to report this to us."

If you run a local company or organisation and require more information or a police force input please do contact us on the 101 number.