Pilot scheme aimed at making women feel safer on the streets in Thames Valley extended

A pilot scheme aimed at making women and girls feel safer on the streets has been extended until the end of April.

Originally launched as a three-month pilot StreetSafe is a new online tool to enable people, particularly women and girls, to report areas where they feel or have felt unsafe, and say why.

The Home Office initiative is supported by local police forces including Thames Valley Police.

The idea is to identify particular areas and factors that lead to people feeling unsafe and might help offenders commit or conceal a crime, so that this information can then by used by police forces, Police & Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and local authorities to improve local safety.

Thames Valley Police PCC Matthew Barber said: "StreetSafe allows anyone to anonymously tell the police about public places where you have felt or feel unsafe, because of environmental issues, eg street lighting, abandoned buildings or vandalism and/or because of some behaviours, eg being followed or verbally abused.

"While the vast majority of people feel safe across Thames Valley, there are some areas in our communities where women, in particular, can feel less safe.

"Now you can report an area you feel is unsafe, online and anonymously using StreetSafe"

StreetSafe is anonymous and you will not be asked about your identity, such as your name or date of birth.

There are optional questions about your age, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, illnesses or disabilities, but you do not have to answer these.

The online tool captures the location data, your answers to questions about the place that made you feel unsafe and people's behaviour that made you feel unsafe, your reasons for not reporting a crime, and information such as your age range and gender if you opt to answer these - but nothing that could identify you, such as your name or contact details.

To use StreetSafe, visit www.thamesvalley.police.uk/notices/street-safe

Please note that, because StreetSafe is anonymous, it cannot be used for reporting a crime and incidents will not be investigated.

To report a crime, you can call the police on 101 or report online.

In it is an emergency or if a crime is in progress, call 999.