A survey of police officers describing Notting Hill Carnival as a “war zone” and “hell” has been criticised, with organisers condemning its “anti-carnival agenda”.
Organisers said the survey is “driven by unsubstantiated quotes and little solid data”, after almost 90% of respondents said they have felt unsafe while working during the event, billed as Europe’s biggest street party.
The survey, which received 486 responses, found officers felt like “lambs to the slaughter” at the carnival, which saw 7,000 officers policing it this year.
Of those who responded, 28.78% said they had been assaulted while working and 88.66% said they have felt unsafe.
One described it as “hell” – adding “it’s a war zone we are sent into year after year” – while another said it was “dangerous… officers are treated as lambs to slaughter”.
An officer said they would “rather crawl naked through broken glass”.
Notting Hill Carnival Ltd said it valued “the vital contribution to carnival of all police officers”, but described the survey as “hugely flawed”.
“It is quite clearly written with an anti-carnival agenda that the police federation highlights every year,” the group added.
“It is driven by unsubstantiated quotes and little solid data, designed to create negative headlines.
“The survey returned views at best of just 7% of potential officers on duty and much of it highlights concerns officers have about their general wellbeing at the event in regards to food and rest.
“This is a staff management issue for the Metropolitan Police.
“The carnival community is tired of the police using Notting Hill Carnival as cover for their own issues.”
Each year more than a million people attend the carnival, which began in the 1960s as a way to unite the diverse immigrant communities that had settled in west London.
According to the Metropolitan Police Federation, which ran the survey as part of a safety report, there were two murders, eight stabbings and 349 arrests at this summer’s event.
Across the weekend, 61 officers were assaulted, the federation added.
Simon Hill, deputy general secretary of the federation, said the purpose of the survey was to get “concrete evidence of the experience of police at the event”.
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“We chose to focus our survey on the Notting Hill Carnival rather than another large-scale event because of the consistent volume of assaults reported by officers after the event every year,” he said.
“We are also extremely concerned about the public who attend the event being victims of crime that officers feel powerless to prevent due to the sheer number of attendees and crimes committed.
“No other event in London has this combination or level of issues for officers.”
