THE roll out of North Yorkshire Police’s new ‘unpredictable policing’ project in York has drawn a mixed response from readers of The Press.

Project Servator launched in the city centre on Tuesday, and saw armed police, dog handlers and mounted officers on the streets, while a police helicopter hovered above the city. The idea is to mix high-visibility and undercover deployments to deter criminals in York at all levels.

In a survey within the story at thepress.co.uk, which was completed by 660 people, an overwhelming majority thought Project Servator was a good idea - 81 per cent - compared with 19 per cent who did not.

Yorkie J commented that the project was a “great idea”, but “highly doubt it will impact anything in the city”, while Definitively called it “a very sensible idea”.

Not all were convinced though, with Trailblazer calling Project Servator “another gimmick”, while Sceptic01 called for “something more predictable like a regular police presence”, rather than “a speed camera van parked up in a place to catch maximum revenue, not in a place where the public are likely to be harmed”. The survey was carried out before news of an incident in which a baby was taken to hospital.

York Press:

Mortified Mortician welcomed the project, which they believed “will make the city centre feel safer”, adding: “With terrorists attacks in London and other cities around the world is it time our officers carried firearms what can they do against a terrorist with a gun they are just as helpless as anyone else. but it would be a bad day when our officers have to carry arms. I like the video coppers getting down on their knees to chat to young ones can only be a great thing for police/public relations.”

However, Buzzz Light-year was “not sure of the efficacy of this operation”, adding: “As far as reassurance - I don’t think so. Having a chopper hovering noisily over the city centre for well over an hour certainly puts one in mind of being in a place like Moss Side on a Saturday night.”

York Press:

In a poll on Twitter, the result was much closer - 53 per cent said they did not think Project Servator was a good idea, while 47 per cent welcomed the new approach.

Stuart Jones, former York resident who now lives in Germany, said “I’ve never seen anything resembling a large police presence the entire time I have lived in Berlin. UK is crazy like that”, while York resident Steve Patterson said “isn’t this ‘make police presence more visible to deter crime’? A fancy name for ‘more officers on the beat’? Not rocket science?”

*Both surveys were carried out before The Press received confirmation of the incident in which a baby was taken to hospital after a police horse destroyed its pram.