Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

the £442,000 spent to increase surveillance activities 59 at Carnival – an increase of 76 per cent
on the previous year’s surveillance costs. Carnival policing costs in 2002 and 2003 were £5.4
million and £5.7 million respectively with approximately 11,000 police officers and police staff
deployed in both years.
2.30 Following the Review Group’s interim report, the MPS re-introduced the practice of allocating
a police officer to each Carnival band or float (“Band Serials”). An additional 250 officers
were recruited for this specific purpose and their role included helping the bands to travel
round the route and acting as a point of contact for float personnel. In financial terms the
cost to the MPS was in excess of £300,000. The use of Band Serials has proved to be
extremely successful and the strategy has become a standard feature of the policing plan for
the Notting Hill Carnival.
2.31 The adoption of a more proactive approach to the policing of Carnival, together with the reintroduction
of band serial officers, contributed to the reduction of both crimes and arrests in
2001. The MPS sought to build on these key achievements by:
• taking into account the concerns of local residents.
• working in partnership with all key agencies.
• providing an appropriate and effective policing response, to any given circumstance.
• signing up to the multi-agency Statement of Intent and Code of Practice.
2.32 Despite this, the overall numbers of reported crimes rose in 2002 and 2003 and this is a cause
for concern. The number of arrests in 2003 was the highest for several years.
2.33 Although many commentators seek to define the success or otherwise of the Notting Hill
Carnival in terms of whether or not there is an increase or decrease in crime from year to year,
the Review Group noted that when compared with other large-scale events, the Notting Hill
Carnival is a relatively safe event - a position that has been supported by the MPS. Crime
levels at the Carnival used to be significantly higher before 1996. By way of comparison with
other events, there were over 2,000 reported offences committed at the Glastonbury Festival
in 1999. Reducing crime was identified as one of the major objectives for Glastonbury 2000
and it was therefore agreed that a crime reduction strategy should be required as part of the
event organiser’s licence conditions.
2.34 The strategic focus of the policing operation has remained that of working with all
stakeholders to deliver a safe and trouble free Carnival. The Review Group noted that this
approach took into account the difficult lessons learned during the 1970’s and 80’s when the
Carnival received greater attention for the large-scale violent crime and regular breakdown of
public order took place. They were conscious that in setting policing levels, the primary aim
was to strike a balance between the requirement to deal with potential large-scale crime and
disorder and the desire of those attending the Carnival to celebrate freely, without
unnecessary intervention from the statutory authorities.
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These costs related to the purchase and hire of audio, CCTV and audio-visual equipment.
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