Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

initiate discussions with DCMS, GOL and the Home Office in order to establish a long-term
strategic funding programme that will develop the infrastructure necessary to ensure that:
(b) the significant contribution made by the costume bands and the static sound systems to the
crowd management effort during the Carnival is recognised - the former through their
deployment of volunteer band stewards and the latter through their innovative use of music
to regulate crowd behaviour. The static sound systems have also used their own resources to
employ stewards to manage the crowds around their music sites;
(b) a combination of experienced community-based stewards and ‘professional’ stewards remains
a core element of any crowd management operation at the Carnival. The experience of
community stewards should be harnessed and managed so that their contribution is enhanced
and sustained;
(c) the successful practice of allocating a police officer to each band/float (‘Band Serial Officers’)
is consolidated and built upon. The possible use of Police Community Support Officers
(PSCOs) and Special Constables to support the Carnival policing and stewarding effort should
also be explored;
(d) realistic and achievable targets for the gradual increase in the number of stewards deployed at
the Carnival are established. These targets should be reviewed annually against a
performance framework to be agreed with the MPS. The overall aim should be for the
gradual reduction in policing levels as the professionalism, effectiveness and number of
stewards deployed at the Carnival increases;
(e) support for the strategic objectives of the MPS policing operation through the continued
development and integration of stewarding into the MPS strategic plan is achieved; and
(f) the establishment of an effective communications system, encompassing all aspects of the
Carnival’s communications requirements is developed. Voice (radio and mobile phone)
communication may not necessarily be the correct medium for the Carnival. Innovative
solutions should be developed and used, whilst advances in technology such as text
messaging and paging systems could serve to enhance communication considerably.
10. Whilst in comparison to other large-scale festivals, the Notting Hill Carnival remains a relatively
safe event, we are concerned that the overall number of reported crimes rose in 2002 and 2003.
After a fall in the number of people receiving first aid or hospital treatment for two years running,
the figures rose sharply in 2003 by 140 per cent and 154 per cent respectively. The work of the
MPS and St. John Ambulance (SJA) is to be commended – the former have, since 2001,
implemented a successful pre-Carnival intelligence gathering operation and deployed officers to
specifically target known crime hotspots within the Carnival area. The latter continue to deliver a
first class medical service at the Carnival despite never having received any form of funding or
sponsorship for this work. We believe that the work of both organisations can be strengthened
and supported through:
(a) the development of a multi-agency Carnival Community Safety Strategy that is delivered in
partnership with the Carnival Arenas. All the evidence shows that the majority of crime
committed at the Carnival occurs as night falls. Achievement of the 9pm close-down time
must therefore be a central feature of the strategy;
(b) the establishment of a funding agreement between SJA and the National Health Service
(NHS). We are firmly of the view that the high quality on site medical service provided by
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