From catcalls to the doghouse.
Female cops in England went undercover as joggers, wearing tight-fitting clothes in a bid to elicit catcalls — and then arrested some of the men who hit on them, according to a report.
The Surrey Police Department created a trial task force, which lasted about a month, and led to 18 arrests for offenses like sexual assault, harassment, and theft, The Telegraph reported.
The female officers were sent during rush hour to “hot spots” where open sexual harassment of women is commonplace and pretended to be joggers, the report stated.
“One of our officers was honked at within 10 minutes — then another vehicle slowed down, beeping and making gestures just 30 seconds later — that’s how frequent it is,” Inspector Jon Vale of SPD told the outlet.
One of the officers in the group said the harassment she faced during the trial period reflects her everyday experience in Surrey.
“We get catcalled. We get honked at. People slow down just to stare — or lean out the window to shout something. It’s so common, but it’s harassment and it needs to be recognized as such,” Officer Abby Hayward told the Telegraph.
“This behavior is either a precursor to something more serious — or it’s ignorance and it’s fixable,” the cop said.
“That’s where our interventions come in: to stop potential repeat offenders or help people understand that what they’re doing isn’t OK.”
Critics of the program include the Free Speech Union, which said the tactic was a “bizarre social-psychology experiment,” and that police should enforce the laws on the books, according to the outlet.
