Hampshire police officer thanked by Chief Constable for work combatting violence against women and girls

Police Sergeant Peter Rackham, from Fareham, took a primary role in Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary’s response to the murder of Sarah Everard last year.

PS Rackham, alongside other colleagues from across the constabulary, put significant resource and focus on the topic of violence against women and girls (VAWG) with it being recognised as a priority area for the force. He built a partnership approach to tackling predatory behaviour in the night-time economy; playing a key role in being an early adopter of a training scheme – which entailed working with partner agencies to develop a training product for student officers, licensees and door staff to equip them for the safe reopening of bars and clubs.

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During this time, PS Rackham also led the charge on the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme – which allows people who feel threatened in venues to discreetly leave, either with the help of staff or via an app.

At the recent Chief Constable's Award Ceremony at the Police Training Headquarters in Netley, he was congratulated by acting Chief Constable Benjamin Snuggs for his efforts.

PS Rackham said: ‘I am really happy for this work to be recognised, however I want to state that this work would be nothing if the policing family, and partners, did not respond so well to following the guiding principles laid out in the work I performed.

‘I have seen first-hand how our approach has supported vulnerable people and deterred perpetrators from committing offences. Licensed premises, police officers and the public have a huge role to play in calling out perpetrator behaviours and supporting women and girls in the community and we are now regularly seeing some fantastic work between everyone to achieve this.’

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The acting Chief Constable added: ‘At Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, we are very clear that violence, intimidation, misogyny, sexism and harassment of any kind towards women and girls is not acceptable in any form. Sergeant Rackham’s work on VAWG is a great example in this space and he’s a role model for the highest standards of behaviour. As a force, we will continue to work to support victims and pursue perpetrators through the criminal justice system.’