Thames Valley Police and Project Vigilant: Evaluation

This research was an evaluation of a police-led initiative called Project Vigilant.

Project Vigilant was developed in 2019 by Thames Valley Police following an increase in sexual attacks. It is a perpetrator-focused proactive initiative designed to tackle Violence, Abuse & Intimidation (VAIWG) against Women and Girls in the Night Time Economy. 

It uses uniformed and non-uniformed officers to prevent displacement and enable predatory behaviour to be identified and challenged immediately. Project Vigilant has been recognised by Government as good practice following the tragic death of Sarah Everard. The project won the International Association Chiefs of Police award for Crime Prevention and has provoked national interest with many others keen to replicate it.

University of Brighton was awarded the contract to lead on the evaluation of Project Vigilant. This was a short-term evaluation with the final report published in 2023. The evaluation focused on three Key Evaluation Questions (KEQs):

1) The use of both covert and overt resources to disrupt potential sexual perpetrators and prevent offences;
2) The effectiveness of verbal engagement with potential perpetrators in dissuading them from offending; and
3) The impact of Project Vigilant on public perception and confidence alongside the wider VAIWG agenda, especially in relation to harder to reach communities such as young women and girls.

The overall aim of the evaluation was to identify areas that have tangible, measurable and long lasting impact on preventing VAIWG.