Project Servator – the UK policing tactic used to disrupt crime, notably terrorist hostile reconnaissance – is being trialled at East Midlands Airport. As featured in Professional Security magazine since 2013, Servator sees police also draw on businesses, other partners and the public. It’s in use in various parts of the UK, including the whole of London (by the City of London, Met, British Transport Police and MoD police forces) as featured in the May 2018 print issue.
Briefly, Servator sees the deployment of visible and plain-clothed police officers, besides other resources such as dogs, firearms officers, vehicle checkpoints, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and monitored CCTV. Police stress that the deployments are unpredictable. They can happen anywhere and at any time and include police officers trained to spot the tell-tale signs that someone may be planning or preparing to commit a crime, behavioural analysis for short. The UK official Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) began work on the tactic with the City of London Police and are designed to disrupt hostile reconnaissance – the information-gathering and planning that criminals need to do.
Servator has also been about gathering intelligence that, police say, has assisted Counter Terrorism Units in investigating and preventing acts of terror. It has also resulted in arrests for various offences and is responsible for removing firearms, knives and drugs from the streets. Leicestershire Police – as East Midlands Airport falls in their force area at Castle Donington – say that they will work with from British Transport Police, UK Border Force, Counter Terrorist Police and Airport Security to carry out deployments across the airport.
Inspector Caroline Graham, Commander for East Midlands Airport Police Team, said: “I am really pleased to be trialling Project Servator at East Midlands Airport. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to work closely with businesses and remind the wider community about the importance of being vigilant at all times. This will add another layer of security to our existing policing methods.”
And Andy Tyler-Smith, Customer Services and Security Director, at East Midlands Airport, said: “The security of everyone who works and visits East Midlands Airport is important to us, which is why we’re working closely with Leicestershire Police as part of Project Servator to make life difficult for criminals looking to operate in this area. East Midlands Airport is an incredibly safe place and this will further strengthen the visible and less visible measures already in place to keep everyone safe and secure.”
Pictured; Servator poster as in use at Stansted Airport by Essex Police. Servator is already being applied at other airports, such as Luton.
For more about Servator, see for instance the City of London Police website.
Separately, a University of Leicester academic has brought out a study of Servator.
