Over £300,000 cash and drugs seized in Luton town centre as force prepares to launch Project Servator

Officers  disrupting criminal activity in Luton town centre have now seized more than £300,000 in cash and drugs as Bedfordshire Police prepares to unveil a major new crackdown on crime in the town.

Officers working on Operation Metal have also taken 19 weapons off the streets and made 63 arrests as part of the dedicated operation to tackle crime in the town centre since it launched this summer.

This included over the past fortnight plain clothes officers working with council CCTV operators in the town to arrest a man suspected of drug dealing, seizing illegal drugs and a phone believed to be linked to a drugs line.

Over the past month officers from the force's Community Enforcement Team (CET) have also conducted visits to people suspected of carrying knives, safeguarded a suspected drugs runner for a county line from London and rehoused a repeated victim of cuckooing.

It comes as Bedfordshire Police is set to launch Project Servator across Luton in a further boost to the force's effort to disrupt criminal behaviour. 

Project Servator is a policing tactic that aims to disrupt a range of criminal activity, including terrorism, while providing a reassuring presence for the public.

The officers are specially trained to spot signs that someone may be planning to commit crime. 

Working together with the community, Project Servator teams pop up in areas on highly visible and unpredictable deployments, creating a difficult environment for criminals to operate in.

Project Servator deployments are made up of a range of police resources, including uniformed and plain clothed officers as well as other specialist tactics.

Chief Inspector Alex House said: "Operation Metal is continuing to act as a significant deterrent to criminal activity in Luton town centre, making the community far safer in the process.

"This disruption will only enhance with the rollout of Project Servator. 

"The aim of Project Servator is to disrupt hostile reconnaissance, the planning that may help terrorists and other criminals to commit a crime, while increasing the visible policing presence and reassuring the public.

"Project Servator has been in effect at London Luton Airport for some time and achieved some amazing results, which we hope to see replicated across the town as we launch these new deployments.

"We will be deploying officers in different areas at different times to deter crime and help keep our communities safe."

Since it launched this summer Operation Metal, led by the CET and the Luton community policing team, has seized £259,000 worth of drugs and £58,675 in cash.