Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

Stewarding & Route Management at Carnival
Recommendation
9. Effective crowd management is an essential feature of any public safety strategy for large-scale
events. The establishment of a suitably qualified and sustainable body of stewards is vital to
ensuring the safety of spectators and participants at the Carnival. Such a body could eventually
compete for the stewarding of large-scale events in London. We believe that the GLA should
now 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:
(a) 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.
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