As Londoners and visitors get together to enjoy the Bank Holiday this weekend, with festivals and other events, thousands of Met officers will be on duty across the capital to keep communities safe.
One of the events officers will be working at is the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival, where 12,500 officer shifts are scheduled to work over the three-day event to maintain public order throughout.
It’s a weekend of huge significance, where the streets come alive with music, dancing and costumes to celebrate this event rooted in Black history.
We have been working closely with the event organisers, Notting Hill Ltd and our partners including Transport for London, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and MOPAC, as well as members from the local community, for months to make sure the event remains safe for all attending.
In recent years, we have seen that the crowd can get very dense at certain points; this year there has been particular work devoted to identify these hotspots along the Carnival route.
These potential challenges will be closely monitored by both stewards and officers on the ground to ensure overcrowding doesn’t become an issue for people in attendance.
There will be specialist officers from the mounted branch at these locations to view crowds from a height, as well as the trialling of Crowd Safety Camera technology to provide information to assist officers in decision making and enabling them to deal with any concerns swiftly.
Like last year, we will be working with the charity Safer Spaces, who work at many festivals creating a safe area where women and girls can go and seek advice, or report an incident, or simply speak to someone. The people who will be working in these spaces are all specially trained professionals, as well as the police, and are there to support anyone who needs it.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Dr Alison Heydari, said: “I’m hugely excited to be working at Notting Hill Carnival again, it’s always such a brilliant weekend with so much to see and enjoy.
“I’m also looking forward to seeing our officers on duty, taking the time to speak to people we serve, while they work diligently to maintain safety at the event.
“I hope everyone who attends has a brilliant time. Stay safe, plan your routes to and from the area, look after each other and please remember we are there to help you. If you see something that doesn’t look right, do speak to an officer.”
+ Safety advice:
– Go with the flow of the crowd, don’t try and walk against it.
– Don’t just rely on your phone, set a meeting place with family or friends in case you lose one another.
– Keep your belongings with you at all times.
– Plan your journey in advance; do not drive your car to the area, know your public transport options and routes to and from Carnival.
– Make travel plans before you leave – TFL will have a dedicated website showing all the best and quickest options.
– Travel to tube and railway stations such as Shepherds Bush or Bayswater and walk in. Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill Gate and Westbourne Park will be exceptionally busy. Please consider this for leaving the area also.
– If you feel like something doesn’t look right please speak with us.
