A group of women in snug running gear sets off along the tree-lined streets of Reigate. To the casual passerby, they are just joggers enjoying the sunshine. But these women are anything but ordinary: they are undercover police officers, part of Surrey Police’s new “Jog On” campaign aimed at confronting street harassment against female runners. Within ten minutes, some of them are already being honked at, leered at, and shouted at by passing drivers a stark reminder of how pervasive this issue is.
“We get a phone chat, they’re staring, they’re hanging out of the window just to look at us. It’s so, so prevalent,”
says PC Abby Hayward, one of the undercover officers.
“For people to recognise that it’s not right, it’s not just a small act, it can make someone feel really quite uncomfortable. I feel empowered to be part of such an operation.”
Launched in July 2025 and running through August, the “Jog On” initiative deployed female officers dressed in athletic gear along known harassment hotspots in Reigate and Redhill. A specialist police unit stayed nearby to intervene when behavior crossed legal boundaries. In a span of a month, the operation resulted in 18 arrests for crimes ranging from harassment, to sexual assault, to theft. Notably, no one was ever arrested for catcalling alone charges needed to reach special statutory thresholds in order to warrant prosecution.
Surrey Police point out that even though behaviors like wolf-whistling or obscene gestures are frequently not criminal in and of themselves, they do have the potential to become more severe crimes.
“Those types of behaviors are not criminal offenses in and of themselves, but nonetheless must be policed nonetheless,”
an involved police officer elaborates.
UK law is nuanced when it comes to harassment in public. Relevant legislation includes:
Public Order Act 1986 (sections 4A and 5): Directed against menacing or abusive behavior likely to cause distress, alarm, or harassment. Lower-grade offenses like an isolated offensive remark barely come up to this level.
Protection from Harassment Act 1997: Addresses repeated conduct over time.
Sexual Offences Act 2003: Covers unwanted sexual touching.
Protection against Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023: A bill that awaits enactment, which will make catcalling, following, or blocking an individual due to their sex a crime, punishable with up to two years in jail.
Article 10, as per Human Rights Act 1998, United Kingdom, ensures freedom of speech but not without exceptions. Certain provisions are permitted to ensure public safety, crime prevention, or respect for the rights of others.
The campaign has sparked debate. Critics, such as the Free Speech Union, call the initiative a “bizarre social-psychology experiment” and warn it risks chilling lawful expression. They argue police should focus on enforcing existing laws rather than conducting undercover operations to provoke catcalling.
Supporters counter that the campaign addresses a serious, under-reported problem. Surveys indicate that 60% of female runners in the UK experience harassment, with almost half never reporting it. The operation is designed to deter harassment before it escalates, rather than punish speech for its own sake.
PC Hayward describes the personal impact:
“It’s one of our force priorities, and for me that makes me feel proud to work for Surrey Police. It’s such a personal experience, and I know for many other women who experience it, it can be very distressing.”
Others have criticized this practice as a misapplication of resources, especially for minor behaviors. However, proponents point out that crime tracking and offender education can help forestall escalation to graver crimes.
A tweet from X.
Surrey’s “Jog On” initiative mirrors concurrent pilots in Bradford, West Yorkshire, that started in 2024. These programs are components of an overall cultural effort within the UK to hold gender-based harassment in public places up for scrutiny. They coincide with efforts within legislation to more explicitly criminalize street harassment and give police officers clearer powers of action.
