Avon and Somerset Police statement following latest report in Angiolini inquiry
The Angiolini Inquiry was set up after the murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens
Last updated 2nd Dec 2025
Following the latest report from the Angiolini inquiry, Avon and Somerset Police say they are committed to eradicating violence against women and girls and are evaluating and reviewing their response.
The Angiolini Inquiry was set up to investigate wider issues within policing and women's safety after the murder and rape of Sarah Everard by police officer Wayne Couzens in March 2021.
In the latest report Inquiry chairwoman Lady Elish Angiolini found around a quarter of police forces in England and Wales lack specialist policies for investigating sexual offences.
It also found that data collection on sex crimes against women is hard to obtain incomplete or "patchy."
Avon and Somerset Police was one of several police forces to take part in the latest section of the inquiry, which focuses on the prevention of sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces.
In a statement Avon and Somerset Police said:
"Two of the key findings relate to the need for a national rollout of Project Vigilant – a policing operation targeting predatory men in the nighttime economy, and the effective implementation of Operation Soteria, a programme of work to transform the policing and criminal justice response to rape.
"The report says both provide 'a visible grip on prevention, with a focus on perpetrators'.
"Operation Soteria, which explicitly focuses on perpetrators with a victim-centred and evidence-led approach, was developed and piloted by Avon and Somerset Police in 2021 as Project Bluestone, after we invited academics in to review our policing response to rape and serious sexual offences.
"As a result of launching this approach, now known as Operation Bluestone, reporting rates for rape in our force area have doubled and charging rates have gone up four-fold.
"Following Thames Valley Police’s lead, we also started piloting Project Vigilant in 2024, which has seen plain-clothed officers go out into areas around pubs, bars and clubs, looking for signs of predatory behaviour.
"These officers contact uniformed colleagues who intervene and prevent criminal behaviour and escalation before it happens.
"This has now been rolled out into areas across Avon and Somerset and the tactics are being used at sporting events and other venues where there are large crowds to keep women and girls safe. "
Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall said: “We’re resolutely committed to eradicating violence against women and girls in Avon and Somerset, and we’re continually evaluating and assessing our response to these devastating offences.
“We listened carefully to the issues highlighted in Part 1 of the Angiolini Inquiry and have worked our way through the recommendations that came to us from this, improving or instigating new ways of working which take into account the Operation Soteria and Bluestone principles of ensuring investigations are perpetrator-focused, victim-centred, and context led.
“One example of this is our new initiative to transform and improve the way we address and tackle domestic abuse, again through a collaboration with leading academics who are experts in this field. Project Bright Light will take a comprehensive and evidence-led approach to analyse how domestic abuse is currently policed and will take a forensic approach looking at how we can improve.
“We’ll carefully consider the recommendations made for policing in this second report and remain committed to going further and faster to keep women and girls safe, stopping the offenders who cause such unspeakable harm.”