Notting Hill Carnival has potential to become a ‘mass casualty event,’ top police officer warns
12 September 2024, 08:22
The Notting Hill Carnival is not safe and runs a risk of developing into a ‘mass casualty’ event, according to a senior Met police officer.
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Assistant commissioner Matt Twist told a meeting yesterday that the carnival this year “did not have enough stewards” and indicated this year’s event was not safe.
He told the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee hearing that the level of serious crime at Carnival was “too high”.
This year’s event 353 arrests made and 889 crimes reported. Eight people were stabbed. Two people died following separate attacks in the carnival area.
Mr Twist said he was concerned about the “potential for a mass casualty event” in large part due to crowd density.
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"Crime often gets the headlines but actually the thing that worries me most is the crowd density and the potential for a mass casualty event," he told the meeting.
"We did have to step in a number of times to reduce crowd density in order to save life.”
He said one of the options to maintain the safety of Carnival would be to move it to a different location.
“Our priority is to ensure that the carnival is safe, that the roles and responsibilities are clear, and that we’re talking with all partners to highlight the challenges we see every year, and working as a partnership to play our role in line with our statutory responsibilities,” Mr Twist told the committee meeting, according to The Telegraph.
“So the location is one question, but there are many other questions and many other things that could be done in order to increase safety or not.
“So I don’t want to get drawn on one thing. But what I am clear on, I think, is that at the moment, I cannot say it’s safe.
“I think everybody agrees that the level of serious crime is too high. So we need to work with the organisers and all of those with statutory and partnership responsibilities to consider what more collectively we can do to increase the safety for those hundreds of thousands of people that are coming to have a fantastic day.”
Cher Maximen, 32, died after being stabbed at this year’s Carnival in front of her three-year-old daughter. Chef Mussie Imnetu died from “catastrophic brain injuries” after he was found unconscious near the Carnival area in Queensway on Bank Holiday Monday.
