Must Know: Operation Ford and policing crime against elected members

Protecting councillors and other locally elected representatives from intimidation, harassment, and violence is essential to local democracy. Operation Ford is a new policing provision aiming to strengthen protective security and policing support for councillors, elected mayors, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and candidates for those roles.

• Councillors and candidates seeking a clear, practical route to support.
• Officers supporting councillors, including monitoring officers, democratic/member services, and political group officers in England.
• Returning officers responsible for delivering elections.

This guide is not for parish or town councillors or officers who support them, as Operation Ford does not extend to the local council level.

• Each police force now has at least one Force Elected Official Adviser (FEOA) who will be responsible for delivering Operation Ford and coordinating responses to security concerns related to locally elected roles. The FEOA also supports nationally elected politicians with their security under Operation Bridger.
• The FEOA provides briefings on personal security to the council and helps coordinate relevant intelligence on threats/risks to elected officials in the local area.
• The FEOA is not responsible for taking reports of or investigating crimes; crimes must still be reported via 999/101/online, making clear that the incident is an “Operation Ford” incident. This allows for appropriate triage and response to the incident through the usual mechanisms, as well as ensuring the FEOA is aware that an Operation Ford incident has been reported.
• During elections, FEOAs liaise with returning officers to offer candidates timely security advice; ROs can lawfully share candidate details post‑nominations in line with local Data Protection Officer advice – however, candidates must provide contact details.

Operation Ford is part of the Defending Democracy Policing Protocol, which committed the Government to funding a dedicated named police contact for raising concerns and liaising on security, as well as expanding the existing Operation Bridger network, which supports the security of members of parliament and parliamentary candidates.

An Operation Ford incident is any act against a serving local elected official, including councillors, mayors and police and crime commissioners or candidates for these offices, where it is reasonably believed to be intended to intimidate or harass them in connection with their office or potential office.

Crime against councillors or other incidents not related to their elected office are not Operation Ford incidents and should be treated in the same manner as crime against a private individual.

Purpose

The FEOA acts as the named police contact for elected officials and is responsible for briefing public figures and driving intelligence collection plans under Operation Ford.

FEOA’s cover hundreds of elected politicians and candidates across broad geographies; their primary role is to provide timely security briefings. Outside of this role, FEOAs are reactive to incidents rather than proactive. Some councillors may never need to engage with their FEOA outside of the standard security briefings; however, FEOAs are there to provide support when councillors need it.

Specific FEOA activities include:

• Providing security briefings to councillors, PCCs, mayors and candidates.
• Working with the Force Intelligence Service to drive Ford and Bridger intelligence collection plans; creating intelligence logs where appropriate.
• Reactively working with the local authority to coordinate specific or general security support for councillors when a specific and higher risk is identified.
• Acting as the formal mechanism for applying for protective security through the Home Office if there are significant security concerns for individual councillors. Before providing this support, the Home Office will conduct its own risk assessment to decide whether protective security is appropriate and at what events. There is no provision for protective security outside of specific council events.
• Delivering inputs or briefings to frontline police officers on Operations Ford and Bridger as necessary, especially around elections.

The FEOA support offer may differ from place to place depending on the approach and resources of individual forces; additional support may also be provided by the local authority.

Different police forces may have different processes for working with the local authority on security concerns. However, some principles apply across all areas with regard to reporting incidents or safety concerns to the police.

Reports of potential crimes should always be made through the usual crime reporting systems:

• Call 999 for emergencies, including if you are concerned about your or someone else’s immediate safety
• Non-emergencies, including crimes that have already taken place, suspicious activity etc., should be reported through 101, either by phone or online (https://www.police.uk/).

When reporting a potential crime to the police, a crime reference number should always be issued. More information on the process of reporting crime to the police and victim rights is available through the LGA Guide to handling abuse and intimidation.

When reporting a safety concern linked to an elected role, the individual should make this link explicit in the report and confirm that it should be recorded as an Operation Ford incident. This will help ensure that the local FEOA is aware that an Operation Ford incident has been reported.

The FEOA is not responsible for investigating crimes, even when they are classed as an Operation Ford incident. However, the FEOA can be helpful in checking the progress of an investigation if the response has been delayed. They can also offer reassurance to councillors if the investigation is proceeding as expected.

It can be challenging for councillors to know when they should report an incident or safety concern to the police, their local authority and their party.

If a councillor or member of staff believes that a criminal offence has been committed, they should report it as soon as possible.

In particular, councillors should contact the police and make a report if the following behaviours are present:

• Communications, online or offline, which contain excessive abuse or threatening language
• Repeated unwanted contact that may constitute harassment or stalking
• Sexist, racist, homophobic or other discriminatory abuse and threats.

‘Red flag’ indicators which may signal an escalation should be brought to the immediate attention of the local police force, for example:

• A threat of imminent violence
• Fixation on you
• Access to weapons and weapons skills
• The release of information about you which is not already in the public domain

The Crown Prosecution Service has guidance on responding to intimidating behaviour in elections and public office, which provides more detail and information on relevant offences. It also provides a useful summary of how charging and prosecution decisions are made.

Key questions to ask yourself when considering whether to report an incident or contact the police include:

• Is the contact abusive or harassing? Are there words or images contained that would cause alarm or distress?
• Does the contact cause a concern, for example, is there any underlying issue or is it persistent?
• Does the contact contain any threats, including physical, mental or action that would prevent the councillor from performing their duties?

Actions to take following an incident or relevant contact related to the councillor role:

• Councillors should make sure they are safe; if not, call 999
• Keep a record of the incident, if possible, for example, retaining documents posted through your letter box or screenshotting emails.
• Councils should flag concerns with council officers and, where relevant, speak to peers to gain support and to understand if the issue is also affecting other councillors, pointing to a wider issue.

Different councils will also have different processes in place for dealing with abuse, intimidation and harassment of elected members, as well as specific safety concerns and incidents that can occur.

Monitoring officers or democratic service managers are often the first port of call for councillors experiencing these issues; however, some councils have a specific reporting process. It’s vital to understand what the local reporting system is and how to access it when needed.

After reporting an incident, officers may be able to provide advice about actions to take, which may or may not involve the police or the FEOA. Suggests of actions councils can take are provided below and more information and case studies are available in the LGA Ending Abuse in Public Life Good Practice Guidance.

Councils have a role in supporting councillors at risk of or experiencing threats, intimidation, harassment or other forms of abuse, including where these incidents may be criminal and/or create concerns about risks to the physical or mental health of the elected member.

The LGA provides a range of resources, including good practice guidance, case studies and a self-assessment toolkit for councils to assess and review the support they provide to their councillors to prevent and tackle abuse, harassment and intimidation they may experience as part of their role.

A short checklist to support Operation Ford to be the most effective include:

1. Maintain and share FEOA contacts: ensure that council officers supporting councillors have the correct and up-to-date information for the FEOA. Ensure that all members have this information or know where to find it; this could include embedding this information in member inductions and handbooks, as part of regular safety training or on the intranet, if members have access.
2. Clear reporting processes: Use a simple route for reporting incidents so that members know what to do if they need to report something to the council. This could be a simple mailbox or a more integrated reporting system; some councils use their existing anti-social behaviour reporting systems to catalogue councillor issues; allowing for proper analysis and triangulation of experiences to identify patterns of behaviours and multi-victim perpetrators, where a perpetrator is harassing more than one member or members and officers.
3. Clear responsibilities, roles and expectations: Whatever the approach, officers must be clear who is responsible for responding to the report, including when they should liaise with the FEOA or other police colleagues and how they should update or include the member.
4. Pre-event and reactive engagement: The local authority will have a good grasp of issues or announcements that are likely to cause concerns, sometimes ahead of publication. Local authorities should develop mechanisms to flag issues proactively or reactively with policing colleagues as part of wider intelligence gathering, as well as members and support them to manage their public engagement around contentious issues.
5. Wellbeing support may be equally as important as policing action: Political groups or parties may be able to provide mentoring or buddying support, and some councils make counselling support available to councillors through their employee assistance programme.

Political parties may also be able to provide support:

• Association of Labour Councillors
• Conservative Councillors’ Association
• Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors
• Association of Reform Councillors
• Association of Green Councillors

In the run-up to a scheduled or unscheduled election, additional policing arrangements are put in place, and the council will appoint a returning officer to oversee the election. Election participants will need to be aware of the various roles of these actors and what they can expect from the FEOA during this period.

Safety of candidates

FEOAs are still responsible for supporting councillors and candidates' safety during the pre-election and election period. FEOAs will work with local returning officers to reach candidates quickly and provide personal security briefings. This is only possible when the candidate has provided the appropriate contact information to the returning officer.

Returning officers will need to share this data with the local FEOA. Sharing candidate data with the police can be a legitimate use of the data as part of the RO's statutory duties, including their statutory function of safely and properly conducting an election. Therefore, returning officers can share candidate contact details post‑nominations and should update their privacy notice to take this option into account and to ensure that all candidates have the option to opt out of having their data shared. Returning officers will want to take the advice of their local Data Protection Officer and ensure that all their policies and procedures are updated to allow for this process, as well as ensuring that candidates are aware of plans to share their information for this purpose.

In rare circumstances where a candidate is at significant risk during and due to their campaign, they may also be able to access protective security during electoral periods through the FEOA.

Electoral crime or malpractice

College of Policing guidance on policing elections suggests that, when an election or referendum is announced, a chief officer should be appointed to review their force’s existing election policing plans designed to mitigate electoral malpractice, contribute to a non-intimidatory environment for candidates and campaigners and facilitate peaceful voting.

Returning officers are not responsible for investigating complaints of electoral misconduct or election offences. However, they can support election participants to raise complaints and signpost them to the correct body, such as the police or the Electoral Commission.

Each police force will have a Single Point of Contact for elections (SPoC). These SPoCs contribute to planning the police response to elections and prevent and detect electoral malpractice. 

Other resources that may be helpful during electoral periods include:

• LGA Safer Canvassing guide
• Gov.UK Security guidance for elections

• LGA Handling abuse and intimidation Guides
• LGA Debate Not Hate: Ending abuse in public life good practice report
• LGA Debate Not Hate: Ending abuse in public life self-assessment toolkit
• Crown Prosecution Service Guidance on Responding to intimidating behaviour in elections and public office
• National Protective Security Agency Personal Safety and Security for High-Risk Individuals