Keningston and Chelsea (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Police in Kensington and Chelsea arrested 100 people ahead of the 2025 Notting Hill Carnival, citing concerns over public safety and preparedness.
In an effort to prevent knife crime, serious violence, and violence against women and girls during this year’s Carnival, the Metropolitan Police made a public appeal last month for information about “groups or individuals intending to engage in violence.”
They have been collaborating with the independent charity Crimestoppers to achieve this goal.
21 persons have been recalled to prison as a result of the arrests. 11 weapons and over forty knives have been recovered by officers, and about 266 persons have been issued police bail or probationary license terms prohibiting them from attending Carnival this year.
Commander Charmain Brenyah, the Met’s spokesperson for Carnival, said:
“We expect around one million people to be on the streets of west London for what is one of the most significant weekends in the capital’s cultural calendar. The vast majority come to have fun and enjoy themselves, to celebrate Caribbean culture, to dance, to eat and to go home with nothing but good memories.
Regrettably we know a minority come with less positive intentions and in recent years this has played out in the form of serious violence including three tragic incidents where lives have been taken.
The actions of this minority are totally at odds with the values of those who care passionately about Carnival and we acknowledge those, including the event organisers, who have stood up to condemn violence and serious criminality in the run up to this weekend”
Over the next August Bank Holiday weekend, the Keningston and Chelsea Metropolitan Police will deploy about 7,000 officers and staff members every day.
Following a “brutal” zombie knife assault at the Notting Hill Carnival last year that left the victim severely injured and caused “widespread fear and anxiety within the community,” police told the court on Friday, August 1, that a teenager had been sentenced to 18 years in prison for attempted murder.
Judge Judy Khan KC of the Old Bailey sentenced 19-year-old Rumarni Tuitt, stating that it was a “brutal and wholly unjustifiable attack” and that there was no excuse for bringing a knife of that kind onto public streets, let alone to Carnival.
According to Commander Brenyah, the police hoped to discourage others who might have otherwise planned to attend and commit acts of violence by implementing intelligence-led interventions against the organizations and individuals they believed posed the biggest risk to the safety of other Carnival attendees.
Additionally, they use contentious facial recognition software that has drawn criticism for providing erroneous readings.
“During the event, we will have officers deployed in significant numbers to deal with incidents and where possible, to intervene before they happen.
They will be aided by technology including a network of CCTV cameras, screening arches and live facial recognition cameras deployed on the routes to and from Carnival. We are also considering the use of additional search powers to take dangerous weapons off the streets.”
The police maintain that using live facial recognition is a reliable and effective tool:
It has led to more than 1,000 arrests since the start of 2024. In the same year, only 1 in more than 33,000 potential matches were proven to be inaccurate.
How will these arrests change security plans for this year’s Carnival?
Around 7,000 officers and staff will be deployed each day over the Bank Holiday weekend, with a focus on preventing serious crimes like knife attacks and violence against women. LFR will be deployed on approaches to the carnival (not inside the event) to identify known offenders, people on watchlists, or those subject to court orders, enabling police to intercept threats before they reach the event.
Screening points with stop-and-search powers will be set up at busy entry points to detect weapons and prevent them from entering the carnival site.
Intelligence-led arrests and searches have already disrupted planned violence or possession of weapons, with ongoing surveillance and cooperation across police forces nationally.