Police have said they arrested 353 people across both days of Notting Hill Carnival, with almost half the arrests drug-related.
The figures show a slight decline on the the 373 arrests made at Carnival in 2018.
The arrest figures issued by the Metropolitan
police come after a HuffPost
UK investigation has shone a new light on policing of the Carnival and raised questions about whether the crime narrative that surrounds it is justified.
Data revealed exclusively by HuffPost UK on comparative crime and policing at five UK festivals showed arrest levels at Notting Hill were almost identical to those at Glastonbury when crowd size was taken into account.
The Carnival has at least 1million people attending every year, although the estimated crowd size is often thought to reach 2million people.
HuffPost UK’s data showed there were 3.76 arrests per 10,000 people at Notting Hill Carnival over three years from 2016 compared to 3.1 arrests per 10,000 people at Glastonbury.
The event with by far the highest arrest rate was the famous dance
music festival Creamfields, which had 23.67 arrests per 10,000 people attending.
Commentators said the findings highlight how festivals attended by working class or black and minority ethic (BAME) audiences are more likely to be “over-policed”. But the Met said any suggestion it polices events based on the ethnicity of those attending is completely unfounded.
Commander Dave Musker, Gold Commander for Notting Hill Carnival 2019, said: “The footprint and environment of Notting Hill Carnival is incomparable to other festivals and far more complex to police.
“Other festivals have enclosed, designated footprints requiring a ticket and ID to enter. Carnival has no boundaries and spans a significant part of west
London, bringing more than one million visitors over the space of a weekend.”
He said that while the vast majority of Carnival goers are law-abiding, sadly, a small number are intent on committing acts of violence.
Scotland Yard said 242 arrests were carried out on Monday at this year’s Carnival, with 111 arrests the previous day.
At least 30 Met officers had suffered minor injuries during the carnival by 10.10pm on Monday, according to the force’s figures, with 37 arrests recorded for assaults on police.
There were also 37 arrests for the possession of offensive weapons and 162 for drugs.
Police were given extra stop and search powers for the duration of the carnival via a section 60 order.Commander Musker has thanked the thousands of officers who worked in 30C heat during the carnivalhttps://t.co/0pFz62F1Eo— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) August 26, 2019Commander Dave Musker, the Met’s lead officer for Notting Hill Carnival 2019, said: “Although I am happy with the smooth running of the festivities, I am, once again, extremely disappointed that a number of people feel that they can assault my officers who are working in very difficult circumstances to try and protect everyone in attendance.
“Officers put themselves on the frontline and should, under no circumstance be assaulted for protecting the public. We will adopt a zero tolerance approach to any assault on police officers.”
Assistant chief constable Robin Smith said revellers could expect to see a “high visibility presence” of officers into the early hours of Tuesday as the Carnival concluded.
“I would ask anyone to report any concerns to us and text us on 61016 if you need us at all tonight.”
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott welcomed HuffPost UK’s investigation into comparative policing of Notting Carnival, Glastonbury, Royal Ascot, Reading and Creamfields.
“Every year we hear a hue and cry from some politicians and parts of press against the Notting Hill Carnival,” she said.
“But the facts show it is generally more peaceable than many other large celebrations. It’s long past time this people’s celebration is properly celebrated by us all.” Related... Exclusive: New Data Reveals Crime Should Not Be The Story Of Notting Hill Carnival
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