Palmerston Park: Inspector issues statement after rape report

Those are the words of Chief Inspector Marcus Kennedy, deputy district commander for Southampton, following reports a woman was raped in a city park.

A large police cordon was put in place in Palmerston Park on Sunday morning after the incident.

'Increased police presence'

Chief Inspector Marcus Kennedy (Image: Emily Liddell, Newsquest)

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Inspector Kennedy is keen to reassure residents that work is being done to prevent incidents like this from happening.

He said: “We are fully aware that the incident over the weekend at Palmerston Park will have caused concern within the community, and on social media, but we want to reassure you that we are fully committed to tackling violence against women and girls in our city.

“Our officers responded quickly to the report from the victim and subsequently arrested a 27-year-old man on suspicion of rape. He remains in police custody at this time.

“Since the incident our neighbourhood policing teams have been conducting high-visibility patrols in the area of Palmerston Park and surrounding areas to provide reassurance to the community.

“This will continue and residents will likely see an increased policing presence over the coming days as we continue our enquiries.

“We want Southampton – and all other areas across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight - to be a hostile place for anyone who commits offences against women and girls as there is no excuse; it is simply not acceptable and will not be endured.”

Operation launched

The cordon in Palmerston Park (Image: Maya George, Newsquest)

Inspector Kennedy went on to detail the work the police are undertaking in order to keep people safe.

This includes dedicated patrols and education.

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He said: “Recently, we launched an operation in Southampton to keep people safe in our night time economy, involving dedicated patrols and working with other agencies, including Southampton City Council, the Violent Crime Reduction Unit and security and staff at all of our licensed premises.

“We have also been focused on educating the public on what constitutes a sexual offence, how they can report and the support available to them.

“We are continuously reviewing information and crime reports that we receive from the community around violence against women and girls, but without those reports, we cannot be in a position to best allocate our resources in order to protect the community.

“This helps us to fully understand the problems we are facing and allows us to put plans in place to deter the small minority who are intent on committing these offences and causing a nuisance across Southampton and bring them to justice.”

'We want to help women and girls'

Inspector Kennedy said: “We need an urgent, wholesale societal and cultural change around our attitudes towards violence against women and girls.

“We, as the police, cannot do this alone and require the support of all our communities and different sectors to ensure that we can make our villages, towns and cities a safer place for women and girls.

“Working in partnership is the key to making streets, open spaces, homes and public transport safer for all woman and girls, regardless of background or circumstances.

“We are also key partners in the Safer Streets project - led by Southampton City Council and funded by the Home Office - that helps support extra security, CCTV, Street Pastors, Student Safety and St John Ambulance in our City Centre on key weekend nights.

“Safer Streets is also funding work in our schools to help young people tackle Violence against Women and Girls.

“We want women and girls to know that we are here to protect them if they need our help.”

If you require police assistance in an emergency, please dial 999 immediately.