Police have arrested 100 people before Notting Hill Carnival – as locals shut up shop ahead of the annual street festival.
The Met said 21 people were recalled to prison, and 11 firearms and more than 40 knives seized in a bid to target those who ‘pose the greatest risk’ of causing trouble.
Officers added that 266 people either have police bail or probation licence conditions not to attend the carnival this weekend.
Two people were murdered at the carnival last year – Cher Maximen, who was killed in front of her three-year-old daughter, and chef Mussie Imnetu.
Commander Charmain Brenyah, the force’s spokeswoman for the event, said she hoped the arrest would be a ‘deterrent’ for anyone to come to the carnival to commit crime.
But with around one million people expected to take the streets of West London, she again raised fears the event could be mired by a crowd crush.
These fears were echoed by London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, who said the event has become a ‘victim of its own success’ and could see a mass-casualty event.
The Met said live facial recognition (LFR) technology – which captures people’s faces in real-time CCTV cameras – will be used on the approach to and from the carnival as well as outside the boundaries of the event.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said earlier this week the force’s rules and safeguards over using the tool ‘fall short’, and could have a ‘chilling effect’ on individuals’ rights when used.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley sought to reassure campaign groups that the technology will be used without bias amid concerns it is discriminatory.
The force believes the tool is ‘reliable and effective’, and helps keep Londoners safe.
Alongside the use of LFR technology, the Met also plans to install screening arches at some of the busiest entry points to the carnival, where stop-and-search powers will be used in a bid to keep weapons out.
The force said intelligence has been shared nationally to identify violent gangs planning to attend while banning orders are being sought for those with a history of violence or sexual offences.
Crowd safety is also a ‘concern’, with attendees urged to listen to directions from stewards or officers, the Met said.
Some 7,000 Metropolitan Police officers and staff will be trying to keep up to two million revellers safe as they descend on the packed streets of west London.
But officers are concerned about becoming isolated and being ‘at the mercy of the crowd’ after 61 of them were assaulted in just two days at last year’s festival.
Police were kicked, punched, pushed, spat at, headbutted and had glass bottles thrown at them in 2024 when 349 arrests were made – the highest total since 2019.
Residents and business owners were this week photographed boarding up properties along the carnival route in an attempt to reduce the risk of damage this weekend.
Simon Hill, Deputy General Secretary of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, told the Daily Mail in an interview this week that the two biggest concerns for officers were being assaulted and crowd crushing.
He said: ‘Officers are concerned about the crowd density. It is physically possible to be six feet away from a colleague and for you to not be seen or to not see them.
‘Officers are very much isolated due to density. In those isolated moments, then really they are at the mercy of the crowd – if you have people in there intent on causing harm to officers.
‘I’m especially concerned about some of our female colleagues who report being sexually assaulted. It’s just not acceptable. They don’t go to work to be sexually assaulted.’