If police are there to ensure women are safe from harassment then that can be seen as a good thing, but at the same time, it sends out the rather negative message that pubs aren’t safe places for women, which patently isn’t true.
The sector has invested significantly into ensuring the pub and bar industry is a safe and secure space for all visitors, whether that’s through technology such as CCTV, old fashioned security such as door staff, through to fantastic domestic violence initiatives such as “Ask for Angela”.
The decision, taken following the tragic kidnapping and murder of Sarah Everard, does also rather underline the sense of paranoia within the industry that the authorities do not understand our sector and are anti-pub.
After all, much like with the ridiculous approach to the coronavirus pandemic, pubs were targeted ahead of other sectors and penalised in spite of a lack of evidence and data to support the moves.
In this case, the authorities’ response to the awful kidnapping of a woman on the street, allegedly by a police officer, is to send police into pubs. Surely getting more officers out on the streets would be a sensible move - target the resources at the problem.
Once again, pubs, who have worked hard to ensure they are safe and secure environments (sound familiar?), are being targeted over something that has had nothing to do with them.
You can see why our sector is becoming paranoid.
That said, if the undercover officers are there to target inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment and improve customer safety, and not police pub operations, then is it a bad thing?
Our sector has done an amazing job on making our spaces inclusive and welcoming, but we can’t control everything, and we shouldn’t expect our teams to have that responsibility.
Should we be welcoming the extra support from police to reinforce that safe environment, or is it a slippery slope that will end up being used as a further nail in the coffin of the trade?