Undercover joggers highlight 'dark' behaviour

A police operation using female officers disguised as joggers in Worcestershire has highlighted a "dark situation".

Operation Jog On aims to target perpetrators of behaviour such as catcalling and horn beeping.

West Mercia Police's Insp Liz Warner said she had begun the operation with a "preconception" that it would be men "egging each other on" but that the force found those responsible were "all lone drivers".

"For me, that's quite a dark situation, actually, and a little bit concerning," she said.

"Misogynistic remarks and predatory behaviours are not acceptable within our communities."

The initiative sees female officers in plain clothes running in key locations. Any time they are subjected to harassment, they will call nearby dedicated support crews to deal appropriately with those responsible.

"For too long women have changed their behaviours to feel safe, but perpetrators are the ones who need to change their behaviours.

"We are sending a clear message to ensure that this is called out and enforcement action is taken."

It comes after research by the University of Worcester found that 68% of female runners had experienced some form of harassing behaviour.

Sgt Kate Clarke was one of the officers disguised as a jogger in Kidderminster. She said: "We've had someone tripped up before, assaults and something called pace matching.

"That's when normally a vehicle will match the pace of a runner and follow them along the road, which is obviously very alarming."

In April, a change to the Public Order Act now makes it an aggravating offence to cause harassment, alarm or distress based upon a person's sex or presumed sex.

The legislation applies to both men and women and could see a sentence of up to two years handed by the courts.

Six operations have taken place so far, with harassing behaviour identified on three out of six occasions.

There are plans for the initiative to be rolled out more widely across the West Mercia Police force area in the coming months.

Members of Happy Feet, a Worcester-based running club, told the BBC they had experienced intimidation and antisocial behaviour during their meet ups.

Marie Tyrrell said: "It's really nice to be running as part of a group, you feel like you have some safety in numbers but we've still had some incidents, mainly in the dark.

"We've been running and we've had kids shout out our car windows and we even had a small bottle of alcohol thrown at our group. It really just shakes you."

Fellow member Helen Everton said the group occasionally had "people run up alongside" them.

"They think it's funny to run alongside us and say snide remarks," she said. "They don't last very long as they're normally not very fit.

"I've also had people calling out at me, asking me to go faster, and it's just a shame, because you can't go on all the routes you want to go on."

Jacqui Bazley added: "I've been running when it's dark and wet, and cars have gone through very big puddles and completely drowned me with water.

"I can hear the drivers laughing as they drive away."

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