Behind The Scenes At Notting Hill Carnival: Proactive Policing That Rarely Gets Praise.
By Chris Hobbs – Retired Metropolitan Police Officer and now police commentator
Former Metropolitan Police officer Chris Hobbs spent both days at Notting Hill Carnival and says the work he witnessed rarely receives the attention it deserves.
Crowds following an articulated lorry and its powerful sound system were packed across the road and pavement when four police paramedics appeared on the opposite side.
They were clearly responding to an emergency. Using public-order techniques, they crossed in front of the lorry and forced a path through the crowd, whose members appeared to recognise the urgency and make room.
I tried to follow but quickly realised that it was impossible. It was not an isolated incident. Elsewhere, I saw officers carrying a collapsed teenager on a blanket stretcher while police paramedics provided assistance.
These were among several occasions on which I watched officers provide calm and compassionate medical help. Pastor Lorraine, known for her community work in south London, also praised the number of officers who rushed to help a young man who became unwell.
In another encounter, a man who appeared distressed complained that a younger man had deliberately barged into him. The younger man had initially approached officers for help. Police dealt with both men using patience and humour, and the disagreement ended peacefully.
The picture on social media
Social-media posts again presented selected moments as evidence of poor policing. Some recycled footage of a dancing officer that first went viral nine years ago as though it had been recorded at this year’s event.
Another clip showed an officer on a flatbed lorry and suggested he was simply joining the celebrations. A closer look indicated that it was filmed during J’ouvert, when coloured powder and paint are thrown, and that the officer appeared to be dealing with an incident.
Screening arches were also photographed without officers immediately beside them. Yet it was possible to frame such a photograph while police remained nearby, and I watched numerous searches take place around the arches.
Many of those interactions involved conversation, smiles and banter. The arrests I witnessed attracted curiosity from people passing but little open hostility.
What the confirmed figures show
The Metropolitan Police later confirmed 636 arrests across its Carnival operation, with 242 on Sunday and 394 on Monday. Of these, 193 took place on approaches to the event and the remainder within the Carnival footprint.
The force recorded four reported stabbing or slashing incidents, none of which caused life-threatening injuries. It also reported 55 arrests for assaults on police officers. Two officers required hospital treatment, one after suffering a broken nose and another after being bitten.
Live facial recognition generated 214 alerts and led to 121 arrests, according to the Met. Officers stopped and spoke to 86 registered sex offenders identified through the system, with seven arrested over alleged breaches of their conditions or notification requirements.
Police said stop-and-search activity resulted in 68 weapons being found, including a handgun. The use of facial recognition remains controversial, with civil-liberties organisations questioning its necessity, proportionality and effect on privacy.
A death under investigation
The weekend was overshadowed by the death of a man believed to be in his twenties after he entered a canal while being pursued by officers near the Carnival.
The Met said officers and members of the public entered the water and pulled him out before CPR was given. He was taken to hospital but later died. The circumstances have been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, and it would be wrong to draw conclusions before the evidence has been examined.
The continuing challenge
Policing such dense crowds remains exceptionally demanding. City Hall provided an additional £4.66 million to Carnival organisers for 2026, on top of £946,300 already committed, following an independent review of crowding and safety. That money was intended to fund improvements including additional stewarding and security measures; it was not simply a direct payment to the Met for policing costs.
I remain concerned about the consequences of panic in tightly packed streets and whether every steward would be able to cope with a rapidly developing emergency. Moving Carnival to open space would, however, be fiercely resisted and could create different safety and logistical problems.
What I saw across the weekend was overwhelmingly positive contact between revellers and officers. That does not remove legitimate questions about arrests, tactics, facial recognition or crowd safety. It does show why the work of Met, City of London and British Transport Police officers and staff deserves to be judged on the full picture rather than a handful of misleading social-media clips.
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