Policing Award
Winner: City of London Police
The Counter Terror Policing Award category recognises the efforts of the police sector in combatting domestic terrorism through prevention strategies and operational excellence.
The winner of the 2020 Policing Award is City of London Police. Under Project Servator, an initiative launched by the City of London Police in 2014, 37 per cent of stop and searches carried out in 2018/19 resulted in a positive outcome, such as weapons or illegal drugs being found or an arrest. This is compared to a national average positive outcome rate of 17 per cent across UK police forces in 2018/19.
The tactics involve the use of highly visible but unpredictable deployments of specially trained officers (both uniformed and plain clothed) in operations to disrupt would-be criminals and terrorists, whilst encouraging vigilance and acting as a deterrent. Its success also relies on the support of businesses and the wider community to create a network of vigilance.
Leicestershire Police and Counter Terrorism Policing were also shortlisted in this category, for Project Servator at East Midlands Airport and the ‘Summer Security’ initiative respectively.