Manchester Piccadilly Station is today subject to a mass rollout of British Transport Police officers as part of a scheme to challenge crime on Britain’s railways.
Project Servator is a national initiative which will mean specially-trained uniformed and plain clothes officers will be conducting widespread patrols around Manchester’s largest train station.
According to British Transport Police’s official website, this scheme is for the purpose of tackling “a wide range of criminal activity on the rail network, including terrorism, and to provide a reassuring presence for passengers”.
In turn, officers are expected to observe rail journeys to and from Manchester, with the assistance of an arsenal of resources – potentially including trained dogs, armed police and CCTV provisions.
Project Servator was launched in 2015 and has led to approximately 650 arrests.
Officers participating in the initiative are trained to specifically identify any signs of criminal or terrorist intent and will be present throughout the local rail system in an attempt to challenge all forms of suspicious activity.
These rollouts are designed to be spontaneous for the purpose of surprising those associated with illegal conduct.
The last known deployment of Project Servator by the British Transport Police in the Manchester area occurred in June 2019 at Victoria Station.
According to the Manchester Evening News, hundreds of officers were witnessed patrolling around the station’s premises – alongside police dogs and knife arches.
Within the same week in 2019, a Project Servator initiative at Manchester Piccadilly Station resulted in the seizure of three samurai swords – with one of these weapons being more than 3ft long.
In a statement to Mancunian Matters, a spokesperson for British Transport Police said: “Passengers and commuters may have noticed a highly visible police presence at railway stations across Manchester – including armed officers and police dogs.
“This is nothing to worry about, they are there to keep you safe and deter a wide range of criminal activity, including terrorism.
“Project Servator officers are specially trained in spotting those with criminal or terrorist intent, and while lots of the resources are highly visible, passengers won’t have spotted the plain clothes officers also at the station this morning.
“Project Servator is unpredictable and our teams can pop up anywhere, at any time, but they need the public to be our eyes and ears too. Trust your instincts and let us know about anything that doesn’t feel right by texting 61016, or 999 in an emergency.”
Featured image: Oliver Jervis
