A POLICING tactic used in Chester city centre to disrupt criminal activity – including terrorism – is proving to be a success and could soon be in operation in Ellesmere Port, potentially at Cheshire Oaks.

Cheshire Constabulary has been trialling Project Servator – an approach first adopted by the City of London Police – since June last year, which involves deploying a dozen or more highly-visible and plain-clothed officers, sometimes supported by dog handlers and firearms officers, at a random location at any time.

The idea behind the tactic is to create a "hostile environment" for anyone planning to commit a crime, while also providing a reassuring presence for members of the public.

Cheshire police has now become a nationally accredited Project Servator Force and invited The Standard to see one of its operations in action today (March 4).

Both hi-vis and plain-clothed officers, who are used to spot anyone seeking to avoid police, were out in force along Eastgate Street and Bridge Street.

Chester Local Policing Unit Inspector Emma Parry believes Project Servator has been an important tool for providing reassurance and engaging with the public in the city centre, before confirming that adopting the approach in Ellesmere Port – most likely at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet – was "on the cards".

She said: "Project Servator creates a hostile atmosphere for anyone with criminal intent. It's an unpredictable tactic. Someone trying to gauge when we're active would not be able to do so – a deployment may be on a Tuesday morning and then a Friday night. "

Sergeant Graham Davis, who is one of the city centre’s Project Servator trained lead officers, said: “Our aim is to disrupt, detect and deter criminal activity in the city centre and we have already had some great successes, including arrests for drug dealing and shoplifting.

“But it’s not just about arresting people, it’s about unpredictable deployments any time or day to reassure the public and to make criminals think twice about committing crime because they never know when we’re going to be there."

Business owner Mustafa Cebeci, who runs Leonidas on Bridge Street, has welcomed Project Servator and the "massive improvement" in the overall level of policing presence in the city centre over the past six months.

Chester and District Standard:

He says he was at breaking point last year due to never-ending anti-social behaviour and theft at his premises, which on one day he claims left him £700 out of pocket due to lost trade.

Mr Cebeci, whose chocolate cafe has been in the city for four years, explained: "Last year and the year before it was extremely hard for us. We had a couple of issues with anti-social behaviour and theft from youths and some members of the homeless community.

"I was losing my mind and patience. They were fighting and stealing. It was a daily occurrence. I couldn't put sugar sachets out on the table because they would be stolen. I worked out on the worst day I lost £700 in trade.

"I felt we needed more of a presence. Then I met Emma a couple of times. She said they would help but I thought I'll believe it when I see it. But there has been a massive improvement.

"I can see the effect with my own eyes. Over the last six months the police have been more visible. Not just with this but also PCSOs coming in and asking if there is anything they can help with.

"I can't ask for more. It's a million miles apart from what it was. With Project Servator there is two things you can see, people either get scared or they think nothing is happening and it's just the police talking to people.

"That is more their focus, clearly there is no problem. That is the key. It's reassurance. The message is 'we are here' and I like that."

A key part of the project is working with businesses and the public so police can act on their intelligence.

During the operation on Wednesday, a number of people stopped to chat with officers and ask questions, including a man from Tarvin who said it was safest he'd felt in Chester for years and another male who wanted to discuss community issues in Blacon.

Inspector Parry added: "The idea is to make people part of the policing. You are the eyes and ears."

Superintendent Julie Westgate said: “I’m really pleased Project Servator is being implemented permanently in the city centre and that it could be rolled out to other areas of the county.

“We’re currently looking at other towns across the county that could benefit from having Project Servator trained officers who will be able to carry out this specialist tactic."

Project Servator is already in use in various parts of the UK, including across the whole of London after it was pioneered by the City of London Police in 2014.

The tactics were developed and tested by security experts at the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) in partnership with the City of London Police.

Project Servator sees the deployment of both highly visible and plain clothed police officers, supported by other resources such as dogs, firearms officers, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and CCTV.

The deployments can happen anywhere and at any time and include police officers specially-trained to spot the tell-tale signs of individuals who may have criminal intent.