West Midlands Police celebrates first year anniversary of Project Servator

West Midlands Police has celebrated a year of Project Servator deployments at Birmingham Airport, implemented to deter all crimes from shoplifting to terrorism.

Project Servator was launched at Birmingham Airport on 15 May last year and sees the deployment of both highly visible and covert police officers and staff alongside other resources such as dogs, firearms, ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) and CCTV cameras in and around the airport.

The unpredictable deployments are designed to deter, disrupt and detect a wide range of criminal activity from shoplifting and pickpocketing to more serious offences.

Over the last 12 months, the team has had some real success on their patrols which have included reuniting a lady with her stolen ipad - officers approached two men acting suspiciously in the terminal and were instantly handed the stolen ipad. The men claimed they were just about to hand it in.

Officers also arrested a man, who was wanted for a serious assault, after spotting him whilst on a Project Servator patrol due to the unusual clothing he had on inside the terminal.

Commenting on the success and first anniversary, Inspector Chris Cotton, airport commander at West Midlands Police, said: “Project Servator has been welcomed by the thousands of people that travel through Birmingham Airport each year. These same people have become our extra eyes and ears, reporting suspicious behaviour to help make it even harder for criminals to succeed. The safety of everyone visiting and working at the airport is still our priority and Project Servator helps us to further combat crime we see at the airport."