The Jockey Club’s security department has expanded, and racecourse stables are getting more CCTV.
A former police officer has become head of intelligence. Bill South, a former chief inspector and one of the DCIs on the Soham murders case, will be responsible for supervising the department’s intelligence cell. He will also oversee liaison with other agencies, such as the National Criminal Intelligence Service and HM Customs and Excise. Yogita Popat has been appointed Intelligence Unit Manager and Barry Holmes as Intelligence Database Administrator. Both are ex-police. To accommodate the expansion, the security department has moved into a building in Portman Square, central London, next to the current Jockey Club offices. The club reports the recruitment is in accordance with recommendations of a security review, published last year. As we reported in our August 2003 issue, that review laid bare various shortcomings, including gathering and use of intelligence. The club was accused of a corporate failure to act on allegations of corruption.
The Jockey Club’s Director of Security, Paul Scotney said: “The use of intelligence and the way in which it is converted into evidence are key factors in our efforts to not only detect but also to deter forms of malpractice within racing.” As part of the re-structuring of the department and in line with other Security Review Recommendations, John Elsey, acting head of security before Paul Scotney, has been made Chief Investigating Officer. However, the post of betting analyst has yet to be filled; and more investigating officers are sought.
Among the security department’s tasks is, in the review group’s words last year, to deal with “threats to racing’s integrity”. In May, Chris Bell, chief executive of bookmakers Ladbrokes, claimed that “one race per day in British racing is fixed”. Denying this Christopher Foster, the Jockey Club’s Executive Director, said: "Since January, the Jockey Club has had a Memorandum of Understanding with Ladbrokes and other bookmakers under which bookmakers report to our security department unusual betting patterns or any event which infers suspicious behaviour. Consequently, if Ladbrokes had any evidence of a pattern of so-called ‘fixed races’ they should have shared it with the Jockey Club. They have not done so."
To protect racehorses from tampering or interference, more than 700 CCTV cameras are being installed for The Jockey Club at all 59 major racecourse stables across Britain, by March 2005. The cameras feature true 15-bit video processing for image quality and were chosen for their low light capability and colour rendition. Atkins Telecoms, which specialises in security and crime prevention systems, was appointed by the club as the consultant to design and manage installation. The main installation contractor was ESS in Darlington.
John Elsey said: “The new system will significantly increase the deterrent to anyone considering tampering with a horse and, in the rare event of an alleged incident, The Jockey Club is confident that the quality and coverage of the new CCTV system will greatly assist swift and accurate investigation.”
The system is designed to identifyanyone entering the stable yards, besides monitoring people and livestock in the yard by day and night. Digital video recorders will store up to 850 gigabytes of video footage at each racecourse, providing an archive that can be interrogated up to 60 days after an event.
