The Manchester Evening News sat down and spoke to PC Kirsty Jackman about her work in the red light district
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Dressed in plain clothes, armed with just a radio, body camera and laptop, she is doing the unthinkable.
In years gone by, the trust between sex workers and the police was all but gone. Frightened of the repercussions or of not being believed, the women would keep quiet about anything that happened to them.
Fast forward to less than a year later, more and more vulnerable women are being supported and protected.
Spearheaded by PC Kirsty Jackman, a neighbourhood police officer based in Manchester city centre, Greater Manchester Police are repairing what was a fractured and disjointed relationship.
In an interview with the Manchester Evening News, she laid bare how she helped to bring about much-needed change.
As part of her beat she covers Piccadilly Trading Estate. Whilst other businesses including gyms, distribution centres and tool companies dominate the area, it’s otherwise known for sex work.
“The majority of my work is to do with the assaults, robberies and sexual offences that occur within that community. I work really closely with them,” she said.
Piccadilly Trading Estate(Image: Manchester Evening News)
As part of her duties she is dropped off in an unmarked car to one of the drop in Hubs run by M.A.S.H (Manchester Action on Street Health).
“I just take my radio and my body camera and my laptop, that’s all I take. I go down in plain clothes in a plain vehicle, I’ll get dropped off so there’s nobody’s cars hanging around and I’ll sit and talk with them,” she said.
“They do activities and things so if we’ve got a crafting or a writing activity I’ll do that with them and just chat about general life and their experiences. Then there’s times where they’ll come up to me and say ‘Look I want to report something’ or ‘can I have some advice on something’ and then I look over to the side room if that’s where they’re more comfortable and take that report and have that discussion.
“It’s just that it makes me a bit more human. I’m not sat there in a uniform full of kit, I’m sat there just as a helping hand with powers that I can help them with.”
A lot of reports, especially those made overnight, are made over email. Other officers within GMP know of Kirsty’s work in the trading estate and so will make her aware of any issues if she is not on duty.
She will also check with IOPS on specific dates or areas or offences before doing a briefing with the central team.
“We’re very interlinked, so an offender that I may have frequenting my beat may be in the Gardens, for example, so we’ll make each other aware of who we’re looking for at the end and we’ll just get out and do what we do.”
Piccadilly Trading Estate(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Descriptions of potential perps are one of the most important aspects for the team.
“I’ve had a few jobs where a series of offences have come to light purely based on a description of a perpetrator. So that’s how we kind of link things. Also there’s a similar description of the number of offences and how they’ve committed that offense that often links people.
“Also if it’s coming via a 999 call, obviously at that point it’s quite an emergency. So I tend to address them first and then anything else that’s more of information I can deal with as and when.”
The job isn’t easy. A lot of the women are reluctant to speak out.
PC Jackman said: “It is quite tough. It’s definitely just about being personable with them. I’m on first name terms with everybody I work with. They’ve all got my work number. They’ve got my work email.
“They know they can come to me and text me whenever, I think another important thing is having a good experience with one person – they talk between themselves. So if I do something good for one of the sex workers in the area, that then gets told to their friends and other sex workers, it makes them more confident to come forward if they need to report it as well.”
She works closely with M.A.S.H., the main support agency for sex workers. As PC Jackman is allowed into their building and they speak to her on a daily basis, it has allowed her to gain their trust.
“It’s still a bit taboo, isn’t it? It’s kind of a hidden work. I feel like we’re getting somewhere with it now and building that rapport and trust with them, having that regular face that comes in that they know they can speak to and trust.”
PC Jackman joined the Town Hall team in June last year. Just a few months later and her hard work was paying off.
“Reports-wise – I’ve had feedback from MASH as well – it’s gone through the roof in terms of what they’re comfortable reporting,” said the officer.
Piccadilly Trading Estate(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“I understand there’s still going to be people who don’t want to come forward, but in terms of offender management, myself and my colleague who work the trading estate, we are very proactive and we target offenders quite hard, because they are dangerous perpetrators.
“There’s not a lot that aren’t violent and really affecting the sex work community across a wide range of locations as well.
“So I’ve personally seen a massive increase in how many come forward.”
Reading through her emails, she said she received at least seven reports from the night before and that was without including neighbourhood crimes, vehicle crime or homeless issues.
“It’s purely sex workers coming forward, wanting to speak to me and report things,” she added.
On average, she received around a dozen complaints in a day. “I’m not here to complain about that at all, because we’re making progress, and there’s still things that aren’t being reported, but to what it was when I first started versus now, you have seen that progress,” she said.
“In particular, certain offenders who we’re targeting so much, you see the decline in the reports. We had one recently and we’ve targeted them so heavily that to them it’s not worth it to come back and be that perpetrator so that’s then keeping the women safe because they’re not even coming back. M.A.S.H haven’t seen them for weeks and they’re really thankful that we’ve managed to push them out of the area.”