Should the Notting Hill Carnival continue in it's present form ?

Yes it should.

Yes it should... Went the Monday and it was brilliant

454 arrests out of approximately 1,000,000 attendees isn't bad at all.

There are always going to be those that go to cause trouble or commit crimes, but with the majority of people going to enjoy themselves then why change it?

RugbyAddick said:

The amount of violence that occurs should mean that they stop it or move it. It was ridiculous.

But then where would I spend my one weekend of the year that a I go out for a good stabbing?

Cancel it, it's shit anyway

CAFCsayer said:

ValleyGary said:

I couldn't care less if it carried on but I do know I would rather eat a mountain of Susan Boyles shit than attend it

Racist

And a nonce

Having worked it this year, I enjoyed it so much that I've already booked the time off for next year. Lovely family day out.

It starts at the end of my road and it is not a fun weekend for residents. It's also a little bit stabbier than an event should be and that needs dealing with. If you have a yearly event that is more or less guaranteed stabbings and it isn't a stabbings festival then you probably need to rethink at least a little bit of it

Get rid.

It's a waste of police time, seems to piss off the locals who it infringes upon and generally would've been banned long ago where it not for cultural sensitivities. (See the fall out from Lambeth council cancelling the Brixton event this year, and the response they got which seemed to centre around allegations of racism)

JiMMy 85 said:

Brendan_O_Connell said:

454 arrests out of approximately 1,000,000 attendees isn't bad at all.

That's the arrests rather than the incidents. I don't know anything about the carnival but I'm guessing that figure doesn't represent the amount of crimes committed.

Greenie Junior said:

If something like that happened at football, it would be all over the front pages, people's addresses printed in the press, people would be going inside for years and so on.

Cos it's Notting hill and you'll be called racist if you say otherwise, it's just described as a good vibe.

Would it? Plenty of incidents occur at football matches without hitting the press. I don't see a connection. The racist thing is just stupid. You daft racist.

I think @Greenie Junior is pretty much spot on, and it's a comparison I've seen in a few papers to. Any fixture that resulted in that much unrest every year would be played behind closed doors. Obviously very few football matches have 1,000,000 participants though!

As for claims of racism, once again I'm gonna have to agree with GJ. A great example was the recent event in Brixton which was cancelled, and the amount of people who claimed The Met and Lambeth Council were racist for blocking it. It's very daft, but people still claim it sadly.

BTW - The Met have quite a good breakdown of what the arrests were for, and considering the type of event it's obvious that certain things are treated in a more lenient way due to resourcing. Plus, Sunday is supposedly the family day - what kind of family day sees 150 people get nicked?!

Assault Police - 25
Psychoactive substances (Nitrous Oxide) - 38
Criminal Damage - 2
Public order - 40
Off Weap / Points & Blades - 90
Theft Going Equipped - 8
Drugs - 169
Sexual Offences - 13
Robbery - 1
GBH - 6
ABH / Common Assault - 17
Theft Person - 10
Drink Drive / Drug Drive - 3
Other - 32

Total: 454 arrests.

It's also worth noting that the Met Police Federation have spoken out against it too, stating that it's an officer safety issue too. I'd much rather see the police using their limited resources more wisely, and that doesn't include Notting Hill Carnival.

Covered End said:

I believe 15 people were stabbed this year at the carnival.
Mind you, it shows how "used to it" we've become, if some think it should continue in its' present form, because 15 people getting stabbed is not important enough, to want to do something about it to protect the innocent.

Perhaps, we'll wait for the first murder ?

Sadly I don't even think a murder will change people's attitudes: it will simply result in questions being asked over why The Police were unable to prevent it, completely ignoring the scale of the carnival and the warning signs coming out of The Police. (via The Met Fed) For what it's worth, I think we've been lucky with the lack of a murder - but luck runs out.

Let them have it.

There will always be arrests at any major event that attracts those kind of numbers .

C_A_F_C said:

You could argue that in Birmingham a large percentage of overall crimes are likely commited in certain concentrated areas on a Friday and Saturday night, are Clubs, Bars, Pubs not supposed to be fun and friendly? should they all be shut down too?

Clubs, bars and pubs are there consistently: there's no extra burden on the council, there's no extra burden on the police, the local residents move in to these areas knowing if they're well known for nightlife and so on. They're licensed with those concerns in mind.

Thank you for making a brilliant - if unintended - point though: when clubs, bars and pubs get the kind of reputation that the Notting Hill Carnival has, they get their licenses revoked and are shut down. That's precisely my point too, I'm sure we can all list places that have closed down - personally I can think of 3 off the top of my head - for the very reasons that Notting Hill Carnival has become known for.. but on an absolutely tiny scale in comparison.

I'm not asking all street festivals to be banned, that would be like asking for all clubs, bars and pubs to be banned. I'm asking for one that is synonymous with trouble, violence and crime, and places an incredible burden on the surrounding area, to be shut down: just like we would a club, bar or pub.