Police drones, dogs, and armed officers have all been used to help deter would-be terrorists over the festive period.
Project Servator, GMP’s operation to ‘disrupt criminality and hostile reconnaissance’ for potential terrorists, has been staged over the previous few weeks.
Specially-trained officers were deployed across Manchester city centre and the Trafford Centre during their busiest periods of the year.
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Thousands were drawn to Manchester’s Christmas Markets, which close today (December 22), while throngs of shoppers descended on the out-of-town mall to get their festive spending done.
Project Servator uses ‘unpredictable and highly visible’ to stop potential terrorists from gathering the information they need to conduct their activities.
"Our officers have spoken to hundreds of members of the public, partners and businesses during their deployments to reassure them and to encourage the reporting of suspicious behaviour,” Inspector Jon Middleton, GMP's Project Servator co-ordinator, said.
"Project Servator is a vital tool for keeping people safe and our deployments have increased across Greater Manchester to reflect the current national threat level."
The deployments use uniform and plain clothes officers trained to spot the tell-tale signs that someone may be gathering information to help them plan or prepare to commit a crime.
They also often involve assistance from specialist resources such as armed officers, mounted officers, specialist search dogs, GMP's drone unit, and CCTV.
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