Crime, violence, and reportage of the Notting Hill Carnival and the police

The annual Notting Hill Carnival is a Caribbean street festival that has taken place in London on the streets of the Notting Hill area of Kensington in August since 1966. The two-day event is known for itsa colourful costumes, displays, dancing, music and an array of Caribbean food. It is two days of celebrations and festivities and is Europe’s largest street carnival. It serves as an opportunity for people to relax and take in these particular aspects of Caribbean culture. However, after the two-day festivities, what often makes the national news headlines is the number of people arrested for criminal offences, in particular, the number of stabbings. At first sight, therefore, it might appear that the Notting Hill Carnival is nothing more than a breeding ground for widespread criminal activity perpetuated, mainly, by Black people. Are such reports, however, fairly reflecting and representing an objective sense of what is really happening? Could it be, that the Notting Hill Carnival is, in fact, no worse than any other major outdoor festivities of similar size or scale held in the UK?

At the carnival held this year, a report in the Mail online (15 September 2022) explained that the event was overshadowed by carnage at the weekend, which saw one reveller murdered, six people stabbed and 209 arrested. Some 74 of the 7,000 officers on duty were also assaulted. A 21-year-old man was stabbed to death and Scotland Yard confirmed that the police gave the man first aid until paramedics arrived, and he was taken to an ambulance “through significant crowds in challenging circumstances”. In fact, as a result of the number of arrests for criminal offences, police chiefs suggested that the Notting Hill Carnival should be relocated to Hyde Park as the festival creates a ‘perfect storm’ for violence in its current location.

Despite these apparent pessimistic statistics, if we compare the number of crimes committed at the Glastonbury Music festival with the Notting Hill Carnival, it changes the narrative completely. Surprisingly, the number of crimes might actually be worse at Glastonbury than at the Notting Hill Carnival. For example, a report in 2019 in Huffpost News, suggests that arrest rates at the Glastonbury Festival are almost identical to the Notting Hill Carnival. If we look at the number of arrests per every ten thousand people at both events between the period 2016-2018, the Glastonbury Festival had 3.1 arrested while the figure for the Notting Hill Carnival was 3.71 for every 10,000 people. Another key factor to consider is the actual number of people attending both events. The figure for the Glastonbury Festival was 600,000 while the figure for the Notting Hill Carnival was 3,000,000.

Since 1966, when the Notting Hill Carnival became a major street event in Britain, six people have been killed. The way these events are reported, it might appear as if dozens of people have been killed since the carnival started in the 1960s. According to a report by the BBC, there have been more than 800 football-related arrests in the first six months of last season, alongside more than 750 reported incidents of disorder. However, what tends to be reported at the end of football matches are the scores or summaries of the games, rather than the number of people arrested for criminal offences and public disorder. In the USA, more than 100 people have been shot every week since the start of this year, but much of this goes unreported. Of course, there are unruly elements who attend the Notting Hill Carnival and cause trouble, and, as such, they should be reprimanded and even locked up for their crimes. The same is true for the Glastonbury Festival. What is important is to ensure that when crimes are being reported in relation to the Notting Hill Carnival they are discussed within a more objective context so people are not left wondering whether the whole focus on the event is to see how many crimes are going to be committed.  

Tony Talburt is a Senior Lecturer at Birmingham City University in the UK.