Project Servator

The police have used Project Servator tactics in London, on the national rail network and at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, V Festival and shopping centres.

These exercises are based on highly visible police patrols designed to identify and deter potential criminal activity, ranging from pickpocketing or theft to more serious crimes, including terrorism.

Project Servator deployments are characterized by the use a range of policing assets - dogs, mounted branch, firearms, plain clothes – in an unpredictable way.

[8] Research indicates that visible policing makes the public feel more reassured and Project Servator arrest figures show it has been effective in identifying criminals.

It is based on a partnership approach,[6] where the police engage local communities and businesses, encouraging vigilance among residents and staff working in that area.

Police seek to work closely with as many parts of the community as possible and briefings often include; local pubs and retailers, bus, rail or taxi firms and their drivers and homeless hostels.

[7] It has included media engagement, poster advertisements in transport hubs or in roadside and telephone boxes, as well as leaflets placed in shops and cafes.

Project Servator may involve using undercover officers trained in behavioural analysis to spot people who might be scoping out sites for a potential terrorist attack.

[25] The planning, research and development behind Project Servator comes from three years of work with the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA),[26] as part of its role to reduce the vulnerability of the national infrastructure to terrorism and other threats and to help protect public places; and with the City of London Police,[1] who developed an initial Servator pilot scheme.

[27] The most significant threat comes from international terrorism with its ambitions to mount high impact attacks combining mass casualties with substantial disruption to vital services such as energy, transport and communications.

[33][9][34][35] Officers are trained to notice the subtle, sometimes unconscious ways in which people behave differently when they are stressed or anxious[36] and do so in the course of conducting hostile reconnaissance.

[39] Scotland Yard stressed the move was not in response to a specific threat, however, in 2017, following a bomb on the District Line train at Parsons Green, there had been a government promise to enhance police presence in areas across London.

[42] Project Servator has also played an important role in building public trust and support during 2016 and 2017 as several terrorist attacks hit London.

An example of Professor Paul Baines’ psychological approach of reassurance communications, is one of the poster headlines that reads "We love rush hour, it gives us 300,000 extra pairs of eyes".

[54] In March 2016 it was announced that an extra £1.6 million a year would be raised by City firms for anti-terror measures to protect the capital's financial centre.

The funds were to support more armed police, collaboration with businesses, community groups and other organisations on protective security and the further development of Project Servator.

[63] Project Servator in North Yorkshire is aimed at protecting crowded places, key locations and events from criminal and terrorist activity.

[66] On 23 August 2017, to mark the first anniversary since launch North Yorkshire Police have produced a video showing the work of Project Servator.

The police tactics being used are overt, covert and firearms officers, dogs and vehicles which are complemented with Sellafield Limited's operational security and community vigilance in and around the site.

The model appears to be working with the Ministry of Defence Police reporting a positive knock-on effect in reducing criminality in the wider community outside the wire at Aldermaston.

Additionally, the model has been adopted at HMNB Portsmouth where officers work closely with the local community to gain information and explain the purpose of Servator deployments.

[75] Sir Ben Ainslie joined a Project Servator deployment at the naval base and said "Nice to bump into these two coppers doing a great job keeping Britain safe."

The operation concentrated on offering a hostile surveillance and security presence on bridges over the River Thames in the capital, due to the risk of repeat attacks, while the terror threat across the country was severe.