Police officers have said they are “scared” to work at Notting Hill Carnival amid calls for it to be moved to Hyde Park and become a ticketed event after this year’s event.
Seven people were stabbed at the event on Monday evening, in what organizers called “appalling behaviour”.
They included Takayo Nembhard, who was stabbed to death under the Westway flyover near Ladbroke Grove station at around 8pm – the first killing at the event since 2004.
“Every Tuesday after the August bank holiday I have the same conversations about Notting Hill Carnival,” Ken Marsh, chairman of the Met Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, told The Times. “I did it year after year. It is beyond absurd what is happening.”
There were 209 arrests – fewer than in 2019 – in total and 74 officers were injured as many were attacked by traders, police said. Two officers were also allegedly sexually assaulted.
While a number of arrests were made, according to the paper’s research, there were fewer per 100,000 people than the Reading and Leeds festivals, and the Euro 2020 final last year.
Mr Marsh, along with many other police officers, believes the event should be moved to a private open space, meaning the police are no longer responsible for its own safety.
He also said there should be tickets and suggested it be moved to a large green space like Hyde Park.
“The public should put thousands of police officers on the streets of London,” Mr Marsh said. “They have to spend millions on the police, on people who don’t even live in the Notting Hill area. And it’s just getting bigger and bigger. It has become a monster.”
Rob Shepherd, the Met’s chief inspector, tweeted: “Get the ticket, put it in Hyde Park, make the organizers pay for the police, don’t change our tolerance of abuse or crime to what we would allow on any other street on any other day . 74 officers injured is not acceptable for what is supposed to be a positive community event.”
The questions also arose because of the large number of people who participated in this year’s event. In a video posted on social media, the crowd grew in Ladbroke Grove, which also saw police officers caught up in the crowd.
Such was the volume of people gathered in the area that a retired police officer drew comparisons with the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, where 97 fans were killed.
Chris Hobbs, a retired Metropolitan Police officer, said: “When I saw him crushed, my reaction was Hillsborough. I saw the police in her helpless midst. This is the bigger problem than the violence – the potential for another Hillsborough.”
Fans of the festival, however, say it remains an incredibly important cultural event.
Orlando Crawford, who attended this year said: “We really didn’t see anything dangerous at any point during the festival. Granted, it was only a small group out of hundreds of thousands, but we only saw one man arrested by the police – and that was on Monday afternoon.
The violence marred a successful re-enactment of the event.
The two-day carnival, which kicked off last Sunday and has returned after being canceled two years in a row due to the pandemic, is thought to have attracted two million fans.
Sadiq Khan added: “No crime is justifiable, whether during a carnival or at any other time, it’s really important if anyone saw anything they support the police in their ongoing investigation.
“Carnival has been going on for 56 years now, it’s a really important part of the fabric of London, a really important part of the cultural calendar, organized by the community.
“We support the community and the City will continue to support the community in future carnivals.”
Crowds turned the area into a sea of color on Sunday and yesterday for the world-renowned festival, which was first held in 1966 and is a celebration of the history of Caribbean culture and identity.
