Questions raised over Cheltenham Festival's policing

A decision to bring in a neighbouring force's police chief to oversee Cheltenham Festival has been branded as risky by an expert.

Assistant Chief Constable Jon Cummins, from Avon and Somerset Police, will be the Gold Commander overseeing Cheltenham Festival race week.

Gloucestershire Police say it is "entirely normal" for UK forces to collaborate and the force's own Chief Constable as well as 150 officers will be at the event every day.

Martin Surl, who served as the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire between 2012 and 2021, said it is a level of risk he "would not have been happy to carry as commissioner" when he was there.

It comes as a senior Gloucestershire Police officer, understood by the BBC to be Assistant Chief Constable Donna Lawton, has been served a gross misconduct notice and been suspended.

Meanwhile, Chief Constable Rod Hansen was suspended in October 2024 alongside chief of staff Gary Thompson.

Surl said when it comes to Gold Command, it is "critical" for the roles to be taken up by local officers as planning is always conducted on a local level.

"[Local officers] understand the county and know the people… who have trained with the fire service, people who have rehearsed this," he added.

"No disrespect to Avon and Somerset or that commander, [but] I don't think it's ever happened before.

"I think it says two things: first of all, it indicates that command resilience at a gold level within Gloucester is weak—and I believe it is—and secondly, it means that command of the festival at a gold level will be sub-optimal.

"Everything will be okay until it isn't," he added.

But Deputy Chief Constable for Gloucestershire Police, Katie Barrow-Grint, said she will be working alongside Cummins and Gloucestershire's Chief Constable at the races.

"We've got over 150 officers and staff working every day to keep the public safe and have an enjoyable Cheltenham Festival," she added.

She said in her experience working in different forces, it is "entirely normal practice in terms of taking neutral aid from other forces".

She said the force is "keen to collaborate with other forces" and their major crime investigation team already works with neighbouring areas.

Police historian and former Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Police, Dr Tim Brain, said although Avon and Somerset and Gloucestershire Police have good working relations it was "quite a surprise" to hear of the plan for Cheltenham Festival.

"I'm not quite sure what Avon and Somerset will bring to the Gloucestershire party in this sense because with Gold Cup it is a very well tried and trusted operation for the constabulary," he said.

However, he added, if it was part of a structured exchange scheme then he welcomed the move, but warned that local expertise was always useful.

"If you've got local commanders who know the local scene, know the structures that they're dealing with, know the people that they're dealing with, know the geography that they're dealing with, those are big advantages," he added.

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