MDP continue to grow a network of vigilance

This week marks four years since the MDP first adopted use of Project Servator a policing tactic that aims to disrupt a range of criminal activity, including terrorism, while providing a reassuring presence for the Defence community and public.

Even at distance Project Servator officers can still use their specialist training to spot the tell-tale signs of criminal activity or intent. Our Project Servator deployments have continued, with suitable social distancing, during the COVID-19 pandemic and have expanded to include HM Naval Base Devonport and the surrounding area, with our officers often working in partnership with their colleagues in Devon and Cornwall Police. We are 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, we have 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. From March 2020, the See Check and Notify (SCaN) training has been delivered by us remotely, working with Base security teams, partners, stakeholders, local businesses and employers. This training has been undertaken in accordance with the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

As 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.

MDP Project Servator - what you will and won't see

• unpredictable deployments: you can expect to see officers pop up at any time, and anywhere in and around Whitehall, Portsmouth, Clyde, Coulport, Devonport, Menwith Hill, the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield and at other Defence locations and events

• officers operating in highly visible police uniform and in plain clothes: so, some you will see and some you may not

• community engagement: posters and QR codes (in replacement of handbills currently) are used to support deployments and we'll say hi if we see you, so feel free to ask us about what we're doing and why

• a range of supporting resources (some you will see and some you won't): these include police dogs, armed officers, vehicle engagement points, CCTV and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR)

• joined up working with policing and security partners, including the service police, the Ministry of Defence Guard Service and other local police forces

• social media posts showing our deployments in operation: follow MDP on Facebook and Twitter and search #TogetherWeveGotItCovered, #ProjectServator

How you can help

If you see or hear anything suspicious or if something just doesn't seem right, trust your instincts and report it to a police officer or member of security or staff immediately. We'll do the rest.

Reports can also be made in confidence on the ACT website.