Plain clothed and uniformed officers trained to identify predatory behaviour within night time economy settings will soon be deployed, the PSNI has confirmed
The PSNI has said it remains committed to doing everything they can to “prevent harm, call out unacceptable attitudes and behaviours and protect women and girls wherever they live – in towns, cities and rural communities”.
It comes as new statistics released today, September 27, reveal that three years on from the launch of the first Tackling Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Action Plan, officers have made 5,042 arrests under new legislation (domestic abuse, stalking and non-fatal strangulation) and conducted hundreds of targeted patrols in their bid to pursue perpetrators.
They have also put in place four Stalking Protection Orders using new legislation. 84 arrests have been made on average each month for the domestic abuse offence, there have been an average of 19 arrests each month for the offences of stalking and threatening and abusive behaviour, with 76 arrests each month for non-fatal strangulation.
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In the twelve months to July 2025 there were 21,729 VAWG offences recorded. This is a reduction of -4.0% compared to the previous 12 months.
A “proactive operational position” has been taken with the recent training from Thames Valley Police for ‘Project Vigilant’. This will see tactical deployments across Northern Ireland of plain clothed and uniformed officers trained to identify predatory behaviour and intervene to safeguard within night time economy settings. A formal launch of this initiative will take place in the coming weeks.
There has been 21 ‘Walk and Talk’ events held across the province which sees neighbourhood teams meeting local women and support groups to hear first-hand their concerns to put in place measures or increase a reassuring policing presence where necessary.
Active bystander training has also been rolled out across the PSNI and the new campaign ‘Power to Change’ has been developed into a mandatory internal training package to ensure officers and staff are displaying behaviours in line with the code of ethics.
On September 27, 2022, the PSNI set out a seven year plan with 41 actions to “affirm its commitment to building trust and confidence, relentlessly pursuing perpetrators and making all spaces safer for women and girls”. In year two they published that 33 of their 41 action were completed.
Eight actions were brought forward and a further 13 were added, these include:
- A review of previous cases of sexual impropriety and misconduct alleged against PSNI personnel to ensure appropriate investigative actions were taken
- Operationalise the introduction of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders / Notices
- Develop scrutiny panels for rape “no prosecution” outcomes
- Support the Executive Office with the development of a domestic abuse perpetrator strategy
Out of the 21 actions, six were completed in year three with “significant progress made on the remainder”.
Detective Chief Inspector Leah Crothers, one of the PSNI’s Tackling VAWG Leads said: “We remain committed to doing everything we can to prevent harm, call out unacceptable attitudes and behaviours and protect women and girls wherever they live – in towns, cities and rural communities.
“Over the last three years we have spent a significant amount of time, working with partners like the Department of Justice and The Executive Office developing our action plan and more recently a public facing campaign, Power to Change, to help address misogyny and other behaviours that we know can escalate to criminality.
“We have always been clear that it will take a societal effort to make a real change. But as a police service we have an opportunity to lead the way and to do so we have to be willing to look inwards to our own organisation and challenge our own attitudes and behaviours. This is why we have launched this year a mandatory internal training package for our officers and staff to reflect on how they can play an even greater part in making our organisation and wider society a more inclusive and safe space.
“We are also actively seeking out good practice from across the UK and have recently had Thames Valley Police over to Northern Ireland to train our tactical officers to enable us to deploy the successful Project Vigilant initiative. We want to make our night time economy settings as safe as possible and a hostile place for predatory behaviours. We will be formally launching this initiative in the coming weeks.
“Tackling Violence against Women and Girls requires commitment from all — where perpetrators are held to account, communities stand together, and we work with partners to make every space safe. This remains our goal.”
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