Suffolk charity calls for more to be done to protect women against violence
It comes after Wayne Couzens was given a whole life sentence for abducting and killing Sarah Everard.
A domestic abuse charity in Suffolk says the police needs to do more to ensure women are protected on the streets.
It's after it was revealed in court that Couzens used his position as a police officer to falsely arrest her before she was abducted.
Pat Leach is from Women's Aid in Bury St Edmunds - she says something needs to change.
"It's so sad that we live in a society where it's not possible for a woman to walk down the street without something like this potentially happening, and how fearful it makes women in when they're just going out and about and living their normal life.
"Every member of our society needs to have an awareness of how other people feel in certain situations.
"We need to make a change and gradually those changes will move down through generations and young people will grow up thinking these sort of behaviours are not acceptable, so education is a massive thing."
- Pat added: "It's always a positive thing if anyone in the street just thinks twice about how is my behaviour making anyone feel uncomfortable.
- "There's a movement now to educate men about how when they're walking down a quiet street, and a woman is in front of them, just to cross the road to make them feel a little bit safer. I think anything like that has to be a positive thing."
Police have released guidance on what to look for when verifying an officer's identity:
- Police officers will always carry identification and know they may be asked to show it for verification. They are used to providing that reassurance.
- On the rare occasions our plain clothes officers do work alone, they will be pleased to provide identification, contact colleagues to attend the scene to confirm their identity or direct you to contact our switchboard on 101 to verify their identity.
- Our officers are expected to be really clear in telling you who they are, what they are doing and why. If they have not done so, please ask them.
- If you still feel something isn’t right you should alert another person or a member of the public and ask them to call 999.