Case Studies

Servator at Heysham

by Mark Rowe

Heysham nuclear power station on the Lancashire coast is the latest site where the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) are using Project Servator tactics.

As CNC lead for Project Servator, Supt Donna Jones, said, trained officers at Heysham will be better placed to recognise the signs of people carrying out hostile reconnaissance or planning criminal activity.

She said: “As a national armed police force responsible for protecting critical national infrastructure, keeping the public safe is at the heart of what we do. The main advantage of Project Servator is that it allows us to connect with the communities around our sites. Those who live and work in an area know it better than anyone and notice anything out of the ordinary so we are asking those local to Heysham to also trust their instincts and report any suspicious activity to us.

“The deployments are unpredictable – we can turn up anywhere at any time. The aim is to work with our local communities to disrupt any hostile threat.

“Remember, together, we’ve got it covered – report any suspicious activity directly to the CNC by calling 03303 138146.”

Background

The CNC is the 100 per cent armed police force in charge of protecting civil nuclear sites and nuclear materials in England, Scotland and Wales. Professional Security magazine over three months in mid-2017 featured the CNC’s use of Servator at Sellafield in Cumbria, pictured, where the CNC first took up Servator. CNC Hartlepool was the most recent CNC site to take up Servator before Heysham.

Since the City of London Police began Servator in 2014, we have featured its roll out, at shopping centres, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, at mainline rail stations by British Transport Police (BTP), and in central London in 2018 when all police forces in London had taken on Servator. It’s also been rolled out around the country, and at airports and around other sensitive sites.

Police stress that the tactic is not only about disrupting terrorists and other criminals, such as knife carriers and drug dealers; officers will talk to the public, rail staff and local businesses to let them know what they are doing and remind them to be vigilant, trust their instincts and report any suspicious or unusual behaviour. As for security guard forces at sites being patrolled by Servator, they and their CCTV may be involved, just as police may use a scientific, but unpredictable to the untrained eye, mix of their ‘assets’, whether uniformed and plain clothed officers, armed police, and police dogs.

For more about Servator visit the City of London Police website.

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