Roving undercover police squads who fine men £100 for catcalling women in the street are set to roll out across , a chief has said.
The scheme is already underway in Redbridge, a borough in northeast London, with patrols every night of the week by both uniformed and plain clothes officers.
Chief Inspector Louise Jackson, who leads on violence against women and girls in East London, said she was in “no doubt” that this would expand across the capital.
She said: “The focus at the moment is about educating men and young males around putting a stop to this behaviour.
“When a woman feels uncomfortable, when she feels like she’s being harassed or made to feel vulnerable, we tend to have to change our direction or change our route or head in the opposite direction.
Chief Inspector Louise Jackson (pictured above) said she is in “no doubt” that squads who give out fines of £100 for catcalling will be rolled out across London
“What we’re saying now is this is about educational and generational change.
“If we start to get this message out now, hopefully years down the line it will become the norm.
“I’d love to see this rolled out across all London boroughs at some point. And I have no doubt that will be the case.”
Her comments, made to the London Evening Standard, come after Redbridge Council launched a women’s safety campaign, which one councillor said others “need to adopt”.
Signs have been put up across Redbridge warning that “cat-calling is now an offence” as part of the council’s ThisHasToStop campaign.
Another reads: “Making sexist comments is now an offence.”
Redbridge Council said it is stepping up its task force after a survey of 1,834 women in the borough found 91 percent said they had experienced catcalling and 62 percent reported being followed by a man.
It was Ilford in Redbridge that saw the brutal murder of 35-year-old Zara Aleena last year.
The aspiring lawyer was followed by stranger Jordan McSweeney, who sexually assaulted Zara and beat her to death.
Redbridge Council have put up posters as part of their ThisHasToStop campaign that read ‘Catcalling is now an offence’ and ‘Making sexist comments is now an offence’ (poster pictured above)
Redbridge then became the first London borough to hand out a £100 fine for catcalling in December.
A man received a fixed penalty notice for harassing a woman in Ilford town centre, after it was witnessed by council enforcement officers working with the Met Police as part of a special covert operation.