MDP continues to grow a network of vigilance

This week marks four years since the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) first adopted use of Project Servator, a policing tactic that aims to disrupt a range of criminal activity, including terrorism.

Even at distance, Project Servator officers can still use their specialist training to spot the tell-tale signs of criminal activity or intent. MDP’s Project Servator deployments have continued, with suitable social distancing, during the coronavirus pandemic and have expanded to include HM Naval Base Devonport and the surrounding area, with officers often working in partnership with their colleagues in Devon and Cornwall Police. MDP is also currently trialling Project Servator at RAF Menwith Hill, with joined up working alongside North Yorkshire Police.

In addition to operational delivery of Project Servator, and since late 2019, MDP has trained more than 950 people to watch out for signs of potential criminal activity, in and around the defence sites from which MDP Project Servator officers operate.

Superintendent Steffen Morgan-Fisher, MDP Project Servator Strategic Lead, explains: “Over the past year we have continued to build a network of vigilant contacts across the Defence estate and in the surrounding communities. Using SCaN training and our Project Servator deployments, we have further promoted a security minded culture and enhanced onsite resilience and our interoperable working relationships with security partners. This means that more people in and around the sites we protect, now have a better understanding of what to look out for and the importance of reporting anything suspicious that they see or hear, or that just doesn’t seem right.

“Project Servator is founded on a collective responsibility to be vigilant and that approach is as important as ever. It remains vital for now that people follow the rules to stop the spread of Covid-19 but, the threat of terrorism has not gone away: the need to be alert in and around the sites we protect is still of the utmost importance.

“I thank all who have taken part in SCaN training and engaged with our Project Servator officers during the past year. Communities defeat terrorism and by working together, we can all help to keep each other and the nation’s defences safe.”