It’s 9 pm and you’re at a friend’s house, not far from your own. You decide to walk the route home – one that you have traversed many times before. You call your partner, letting them know that you should be back soon.
A lone police officer approaches you and shows you his warrant card. He tells you that you’re under arrest, handcuffs you and puts you in the back of his car. You comply – he’s a policeman after all.
You never make it back home.
This is not just a story: it’s a reality. Sarah Everard was abducted, raped and murdered by a plain-clothed police officer, Wayne Couzens, on a street in South London last March.
This case caused national outrage, not only because it presented a genuine threat to women across the country, but because the perpetrator was someone that we are meant to trust.
Any one of us could’ve been Sarah Everard that night. Though Couzens had planned the attack, the choice of victim was random and opportunistic. She had friends and family, had plans with her boyfriend, had a degree and a job – she had a life. A police officer, someone who is supposed to save lives, took that from her.
Don’t women already face enough fear when walking home alone? But now we are told that we have to be cautious even with police? What more can we possibly do to protect ourselves?
The Metropolitan police have released guidance on what to do if you feel unsafe when approached by an officer by yourself. They suggested asking the officer questions to reveal his identity and intentions such as “where are your colleagues?”, “where have you come from?” and “exactly why are you stopping or talking to me?”. They also said to speak to another officer on their radio to verify their responses.
The force said that if someone believes they are in “real and imminent danger” they should shout out to a passer-by, run into a house, wave down a bus or call 999.
There are glaringly obvious issues with the advice given by the Met. In the case of Sarah Everard, the act was premeditated and, likely, Couzens would be armed with responses to questions. He used experience that he gained from working Covid patrols and had already planned to trick the victim under a false arrest for breaching coronavirus guidelines.
He also had his Metropolitan Police-issue warrant card, so was able to prove himself as a legitimate policeman. The Met even said that officers routinely carry warrant cards, and sometimes equipment, as they are expected to intervene when necessary if they are off duty.
The advice given seems to ignore the fact that police committing crimes like these will probably have pre-planned their attack. It’s unlikely that an officer will get the sudden urge to kidnap a woman without having thought about it before.
It seems that the Met is placing the responsibility of women’s safety on women, and not on the corrupt officers. How are we supposed to know if what we are being told is true? Most people won’t know the laws surrounding arrests and probably couldn’t tell if something was out of place.
So, say you have asked an officer these questions and believe you are in “imminent danger”, is the rest of their advice useful?
By running away into a house, you are technically resisting arrest – an actual crime. It is unlikely that the officer will let you run away, but if there are no other options this may be the best guidance that they have offered.
The image of someone flagging down a bus is utterly ridiculous and would be laughable if the reality of the situation wasn’t so horrifying. If there even was a bus driving past, there is no guarantee that they would stop and if they did what authority would they have over a policeman? Shouting out to a passer-by for help could work as they might be able to film the officer and scare him into letting you go. However, the likelihood of someone else walking by, especially at night, could be slim.
Phoning 999, if possible, might be effective as you can speak to another officer who can tell you if the grounds for arrest are genuine. You would also be able to identify the policeman you are with. The Met has said that all officers know about the Everard case and would be expecting more distrust, so hopefully, your concern would be understood. I will point out the hypocrisy of the situation – calling the police because you cannot trust a police officer – but there is safety in letting them know.
What more can we do to protect ourselves? Carrying a rape alarm would be useful as you can set it off if you feel unsafe. This is already more reliable than waiting for someone to walk past and allows you to take control of the situation.
You could ask a friend or family member to stay on the phone with you for the duration of your walk. If you’re approached by an officer you could put the phone on speaker and put it in your pocket so they can hear the conversation and can act on it.
There are also apps you can download on your phone that share your GPS location, or alert emergency contacts if you fail to interact with the app features in a specified amount of time.
Walking home alone shouldn’t have to be a burden. We shouldn’t have to be fearful and cautious. Police should protect us.
But that’s not our reality.
Only last month a Barnsley-based officer was arrested over claims he was having an inappropriate relationship with a victim of a crime. The abuse of power in the police force is clear, and more needs to be done to tackle the issue, by getting rid of the corruption, not by telling women to ‘wave down a bus’.
