EXCLUSIVE: Industry body says it is ‘appalled’ at the search of football fans outside Selhurst Park by staff from a private security company who failed to show their ID and licence, as is required by the law.
PETER GILLMAN investigates
On patrol: a sniffer dog at work at a recent Crystal Palace game. Staff from the private security firm hired by the football club have not always properly identified themselves
A two-month investigation on behalf of this website has found that InvictaK9, the private security company hired by Crystal Palace to operate sniffer-dog searches at Selhurst Park, has broken the law controlling the use of detection dogs.
But enforcement of the law over the use of sniffer dogs – commonly used to screen for drugs or weapons – is a seemingly under-controlled area, with Scotland Yard unable to provide any clear policy statement regarding how Metropolitan Police officers are expected to work alongside private security firms, or ensure that they are operating legally.
Indeed, at recent games at Selhurst Park, InvictaK9 has been observed operating with the Met, conducting searches away from football supporters queuing to enter the ground – the company’s supposed remit – and handing people suspected of possessing drugs over to the police.
InvictaK9 refused to answer emailed questions from Inside Croydon, and instead responded with threats, claiming they were being harassed and having their privacy violated when we visited their business premises at a place called Gables Farm in Kent.
Our investigation follows the incident at Palace’s home match with Ipswich on March 8, when I was pulled out of the entrance queue and taken to be searched by a dog handler who was wearing no identification and refused to say who he was or for whom he was working.
Our checks with the National Training Inspectorate for Professional Dog Users confirmed that this search as conducted was illegal.
The professional body told us that any dog handler should “identify himself as such” – and that under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 it is a lawful requirement that any person working in frontline security should wear their Security Industry Authority licence in a prominent position at all times when on duty.
A spokesperson for NTIPDU added that they were “truly appalled that any person would be subjected to the kind of treatment I have just read about”.
The Security Industry Authority, which controls the use of security dogs, told us: “A dog handler working at a football ground, undertaking licensable activity under a contract for services, and who holds a valid SIA licence, would be required, as per our licensing conditions, to visibly display their licence cards while engaged in licensable activity unless one of the stated exceptions applies.”
The exceptions to these requirements are that the licence-holder has reported their card lost or stolen, the SIA has the licence, or the licence-holder is engaged in covert activity. None of those situations seemed to apply when the unlawful search was conducted by one of InvictaK9’s operators outside Selhurst Park in March.
And the SIA said that “contravening licence conditions is a criminal offence under Section 9 of the Private Security Industry Act of 2001”. They added that the company could be prosecuted by the SIA for this breach of the law.
A spokesperson for the Football Supporters Association told Inside Croydon that they would be raising the matter with the Premier League, “in particular the need for searching staff to be identifiable”.
InvictaK9 are hired for their services by Crystal Palace Football Club. On its website, the club states: “Sniffer dogs are positioned at every turnstile and supporters found to be in possession of illegal substance [sic] or pyrotechnics will be handed over to the Metropolitan Police.”
When we approached the club about InvictaK9’s conduct, they agreed that handlers should identify themselves and they told us that they had “reminded” the dog company involved that its staff should wear identification. The club refused to reveal the name of their contractor.
At Palace’s home match with Brighton on April 5, when the dogs and their handlers were out in force, seeming to be behaving in a friendly and professional manner, most were now displaying “Invicta” across their jackets.
This put us right on the scent.
It didn’t take very long with online company searches to track down a company from Swanley called InvictaK9 (Geddit?!). But the company, and Crystal Palace, ignored our emailed questions.
News hound: Crystal Palace’s press department agreed that the security staff should identify themselves
At Palace’s next home match, versus Bournemouth on April 19, there were fewer dog-handlers.
We asked one if the Invicta company was based at Swanley, and she said yes. She also confirmed that the company had been working at Crystal Palace all season – which will have included the Ipswich match in March.
We got similar answers from a second dog handler, who told us that his dog was called Snitch. The handler, however, was not wearing any identification, as required by the law.
InvictaK9’s website confirmed that its drug detection dogs did indeed work at “sporting events”. Photos on their Facebook page showed a van at last year’s Wimbledon tennis championships, for example.
On their website, InvictaK9 say that all its handlers are SIA licensed and “trained to the industry standard”. Which means that as they are governed by the SIA regulations, the search by the unidentified handler at the Ipswich match was therefore illegal.
We emailed InvictaK9 again, saying that we now knew it was the company in question, and would like to ask it some questions about its operations.
We still received no answer. Given no alternative in our quest to give the company an opportunity to explain the actions of their unidentified, law-breaking handler, I visited the company address. This led me to Gables Farm Kennels and Cattery, an opulent-looking, gabled building with a sweeping driveway.
No identification: the farm in Kent, listed by the company as InvictaK9’s business address
There was no mention of InvictaK9 on the signs outside. So I asked a man standing in the driveway if InvictaK9 was based there. He said it was, adding that one of the two directors was his sister-in-law. I thanked him and left.
It was then that Inside Croydon received an aggressive email from Angela Jeffery, who describes herself as the operations director of InvictaK9. Jeffery accused this website of harassment because we had been conducting diligent journalism, including sending them several emails inviting them to comment. She appeared to be aware that we had also submitted questions with Crystal Palace FC and InvictaK9’s professional body.
Jeffrey threatened to contact the police and the Press Complaints Commission, a body that has not existed since 2014.
Jeffery’s email was helpful, at least, in confirming that it had received our email offering it an opportunity to comment and reply.
That evening, May 8, Palace were at home again, this time to Nottingham Forest. As usual there were InvictaK9 personnel with their dogs.
This was where the mission creep appeared to have set in.
Instead of confining their searches to people in the queue to enter the ground – effectively Palace’s customers, who are subject to the conditions of entry laid out on the tickets – now InvictaK9’s handlers were also allowing their dogs to sniff random people as they walked past the ground along Holmesdale Road.
One, a middle-aged man wearing a leather jacket, was stopped and questioned by two of the InvictaK9 handlers. They escorted him up Holmesdale Road and handed him over to two police officers. He gesticulated, apparently to indicate that he was walking past the ground and did not intend to go in. Eventually, he handed over a small package and the two officers led him away.
There was a similar incident a few moments later. This time, a tall young man was being escorted towards the police by two more InvictaK9 guards. He broke free and made a run for it, apparently bypassing the police to make good his escape down Park Road.
Search centre: by last week, the Met Police had taken over the searching of fans who had been ‘sniffed out’ outside the Holmesdale Stand at Selhurst Park
That same day, Inside Croydon asked the Metropolitan Police three questions.
We referred to our original report, which showed InvictaK9 had failed to comply with industry standards, and we asked if the Met was aware of other examples, or complaints, about dog handlers’ conduct at other London grounds.
What should police officers do if they found a detection-dog company operating outside the industry standards?
And what was the Met’s policy if dog handlers were operating away from football queues and monitoring members of the public?
The Met’s press bureau at Scotland Yard, normally efficient and helpful, have been unable to come up with any answers.
Sporty business: InvictaK9 were operating sniffer dogs among the crowds at last year’s Wimbledon tennis
By the time of Palace’s final home match of the season against Wolves last week, the search procedures outside Selhurst Park had changed again. Now the police appeared to be taking a leading role.
Met officers had taken over the table outside the Holmesdale Stand, where previously InvictaK9 had searched suspects. Now, it was police officers conducting those searches themselves.
Some six uniformed officers were at or near the table. One young man with a rucksack was having his belongings searched in minute detail. Another, who had apparently been detained, was standing against the wall between two of the police officers.
The conclusions from our investigation are stark. The regulations affecting searches are supposed to control football fans waiting to enter the ground. There is a long list on the football club’s website of prohibited substances, including fireworks, bottles and knives. Anyone found carrying them can be refused entry.
The list does not refer to illegal drugs, nor does it say that anyone found carrying them is liable to be arrested.
Yet InvictaK9 appears to be conducting initial dog searches on fans and passers-by alike. If the dog is “interested”, the suspect is handed over to the police to be searched and possibly arrested. So on the streets of south London on match days at Selhurst Park, we now have a private security company conducting what is in effect a random stop and search operation.
Industry bodies have said that they are “appalled” by the company failing to follow the law in respect of its staff being badged and identifiable. Another trade organisation has confirmed that the company concerned could be subject to prosecution. And the country’s biggest football fans’ organisation says it is taking the matter up with the Premier League.
Last week, we asked Scotland Yard again for clarification on its policy in respect of private security dog handlers. And still we have not had an answer.
- Peter Gillman is a former Sunday Times journalist whose work included being part of the Insight team
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Quis custodiet Ipsos Custodes?
InvictaK9 are a law unto themselves, with the police doing nothing to stop them.
I hope Peter reports that cowboy outfit to the Security Industry Association, and that for next season, Crystal Palace Football Club hire a company that doesn’t break the rules
As Socrates himself often said, sapientes ne ludentes eventus
First the dodgy sponsorship deal and now this. I know the Premier League is a modern day plague-pit with no clean hands, but Palace fans and players deserve so much better than this.
What a top piece of journalism. I really hope this is followed up.