Notting Hill Carnival is not safe, says top Met Police officer

Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist says level of serious crime at festival ‘too high’ after two were killed at this year’s event

Notting Hill Carnival is not safe, the Met Police’s assistant commissioner has admitted.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said the level of serious crime at the festival was “too high” after two people died in separate attacks this year, making it the deadliest in more than two decades. 
A lack of stewards, and bigger crowds, had contributed to the pressure of policing the event in west London, he added.
Eight people were stabbed and 334 arrested over the Bank Holiday weekend, the majority for possession of an offensive weapon and drug offences. A total of 50 officers were injured.
Appearing before the London Assembly’s police and crime committee, Asst Comm Twist suggested that changing the event’s location was among “many other questions” that could be asked about improving safety.
He said: “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.
“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.”
Around 70 fewer stewards were on hand to direct the two million people who attended the carnival this year, he said, adding that had meant officers were drawn into jobs like crowd safety when they could have been “reducing crime”.
Asst Comm Twist said around 1,200 officers were lost to “entirely stewarding roles”, adding: “Earlier on this year, probably in February, I wrote to the organiser asking them to ensure that there are a number of areas where police officers are posted into what I would describe as entirely stewarding roles, and that’s an inappropriate use of police resources.
“That number totalled around 1,200 and I identified those locations and asked if these officers that are currently in the plan could be replaced by stewards who would be better able to perform the role of crowd safety as part of the event organisers’ plan, but that wasn’t possible.
“If we are able to use officers to deal with their core responsibilities linked to crime, disorder, keeping the King’s peace and saving life rather than others’ core responsibilities linked to crowd safety or first aid or wayfinding, then we may have a better chance of reducing crime.
“At the moment, officers are having to deal with, or are drawn into, other people’s areas of responsibility.”
Cher Maximen, 38, was stabbed in the groin in front of her three-year-old daughter when she tried to break up a fight at the event on Aug 25. She was taken to hospital from the scene in Golborne Road and went into a coma after losing five litres of blood. One of her lungs collapsed.
Shortly after 11.20pm the following evening, Mussie Imnetu, a 41-year-old Swedish chef, was found unconscious by police close to the carnival and later died 
Mr Imnetu, who was originally from Eritrea and had trained under several chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants, including Gordon Ramsay, was visiting the UK on business from Dubai, where he lived and worked as the head chef at the Arts Club.