People travelling through Bristol Airport in the early hours of this morning (April 15) were met by large numbers of police officers.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary officers stationed themselves around the airport's arrivals and departures as part of a project to deter, disrupt and detect criminal activity.
The large number of police were not meant to alarm people but show police have a strong presence in the community.
At 3.05am, ASP Bristol Airport put out a tweet saying: "Keeping @BristolAirport safe... even in the wee small hours of the morning..! All part of #ProjectServator"
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What is Project Servator?
The two-year-old tactic, set up by the Ministry of Defence, sees police randomly deployed in any area of interest to deter, disrupt and detect criminal activity ranging from shoplifting to terrorism.
The police do not want to alarm people with their presence, and they stress it is just part of normal procedure meant to reassure the public.
Where can it happen?
It can happen anywhere as the tactic is designed to be random.
The deployments can vary, they can be either uniformed officers or plain clothed officers specially-trained to identify individuals with criminal intent.
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These officers will patrol and talk to the public and local businesses encouraging anyone to come forward with reports of suspicious behaviour such as items left unattended.
The police want to work with local businesses and people in the community to better serve them.
Why are the police doing it?
Servator means ‘watcher’ or ‘observer’ in Latin and it is the police looking out for signs of criminal activity.
Police want to create a network of local people to detect criminal activity and to reassure the public of a strong police presence.
The police want people to report anything that doesn’t feel right or if you see someone acting suspiciously.
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They encourage anyone to call on 101 with non-urgent reports or if there is an immediate threat to a person or property to call 999.
You can report anything anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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