Policing of Carnival
01 January 1991
Policing of Carnival
artdoc April=1992
Press coverage of the annual Leeds carnival has concentrated
on the killings of three people at street parties in
Chapeltown. The carnival itself, which was attended by a
record 60,000 people, went off with hardly any trouble and the
killings took place after the official proceedings had ended.
Nevertheless, the carnival organisers feel that the killings
have cast a shadow over the event. Local residents criticised
the use of high amplification sound systems late into the
night. The Guardian reported on the fact that there had been
tension over the summer, between Afro-Caribbeans and the
police. `Local people have formed their own action committees
against drug trafficking, which is carried on at a number of
Chapeltown pubs.'
However, an earlier article in the Guardian (15.8.90),
before Carnival occurred, concentrated on bad police-youth
relations as a major factor in community tensions. Youth at
the Palace Youth Project in Chapeltown had made a formal
complaint to the Police Complaints Authority despite little
faith in the system - that police had been harassing young
people en masse. And one incident when a young man had been
chased and arrested whilst driving his own car led to a near
riot. Youths who Martin Wainwright of the Guardian interviewed
complained that they were picked up on the street for no good
reason and `fitted up'. Black teenagers visiting Leeds city
centre say that their presence automatically triggers off a
whole load of alarm bells; security guards hover in covered
shopping centres and they are treated as though they were
football hooligans invading the town.
But the youths' allegations are denied by Chapeltown's
police community involvement officer. He says that although
it's wrong to stereotype a whole age group `there are young
people who are less than considerate.' He describes police
officers as feeling threatened and in a minority. (Guardian
15.8.90 and 28.8.90; Independent 29.8.90)
Meanwhile, the policing of this year's Notting Hill
Carnival involved the deployment of a Ã15,000 airship, fitted
with video and radio equipment as an observation platform, and
a dozen special police teams, each consisting of 15 uniformed
detectives with body armour. Before the event, the Association
for a People's Carnival, a breakaway from the official
organisers, appealed to the police not to treat Notting Hill
carnival as a public order problem and argued that policing
must be by consent. Michael La Rose said that last year police
turned Notting Hill into a `siege town' and that a minor
incident on the final evening led to 2,500 officers forcibly
clearing the area. The group also accused the carnival's
organisers of allowing the police to take over.
The Guardian's David Pallister reported that `after 25
years of uncertainty, the Notting Hill carnival came of age...
with, for the first time in many years, a relatively
harmonious relationship between the authorities and the
organisers'. The carnival was given the official seal of
approval when Home Secretary, David Waddington visited the
area and spent 2 hours watching the street scenes on a police
video. `He seemed very comfortable and pleased with what he
saw', said Claire Holder, chair of the official carnival
committee. (Guardian 17.8.90 and 23.8.90)
Institute of Race Relations, Police-Media Bulletin, no 63