ktlight
26th August 2011, 08:17
FYI:
Unrest is by no means believed to be over in Britain as the London Metropolitan Police fear that the annual Notting Hill Carnival may turn into another black uprising.
Clashes between young members of the Caribbean minority and the police have been a feature of the event over its history since it began in the 1960s.
Now the Met is once more showing protesters that officers are ready for a clampdown especially after the recent unrest in Britain.
Officers have been raiding the houses of people who have allegedly been plotting to cause mayhem during the bank holiday next week.
The police arrested 40 people on Wednesday over fears that they could cause what the force described as “trouble” during the event.
The Met said they made the arrests on Wednesday after they picked up “chatter” on social networking sites about plotting to disrupt the carnival.
The Met is also deploying up to 10,000 officers on the streets of the capital over the weekend to show off police might to potential “troublemakers” in the biggest policing operation in the event's history.
The Notting Hill Carnival has been held annually in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea each August since 1964 by the Caribbean minority especially the Trinidadian and Tobagonian British population.
The festival is rooted in the angry reactions to the racial prejudices against the Caribbean black population in the 1950's and has been a flashpoint of Caribbean youths' clashes with the police over the continuous harassment of the minority group since 1976 when there were hundreds-strong protests and serious outbreaks of violence.
The most recent chapter of chaos came in 2008 when police arrested 500 people in connection with protest rallies around the carnival.
Analysts believe mayhem is unavoidable during the carnival scheduled for three days beginning on Saturday next week as more people in different ethnic and economic strata of the British society feel outraged by the prevalent discriminations and the hopeless performance of the government in tackling economic and social problems.
The British police are concerned that the suppressed flames of public anger that burnt the UK during the recent unrest could once more flare and affect areas of the cities where things are expected to be calm during the carnival.
The Met has already announced they would deploy 4,000 officers to such areas and that all officers' leaves have been cancelled.
“At this stage, it would be fair to say we do have intelligence that some gangs want to come to the carnival and create trouble for us,” said Commander Steve Rodhouse, who is in charge of policing the event.
“Plus we know that some people believe that we will be diverted from policing the rest of London due to the Notting Hill Carnival leaving the rest of the capital without a policing presence. This is not the case,” he added.
Rodhouse further said the “degree of chatter” on public networking websites has been compatible with previous years and there is no intelligence that widespread violence is planned yet he insisted the unusual circumstance after the recent unrest make it “only right that we've thoroughly reviewed our operation for the Notting Hill Carnival.”
As part of their “pre-emptive” moves, the police are also busy monitoring social networking websites on a 24-hour basis to make more arrests to prevent action by potential protesters.
Meanwhile, there have been calls on officials to relocate the event to the nearby Hyde Park to prevent potential protesters from operating in an environment that favors them over the police.
source
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195682.html
Unrest is by no means believed to be over in Britain as the London Metropolitan Police fear that the annual Notting Hill Carnival may turn into another black uprising.
Clashes between young members of the Caribbean minority and the police have been a feature of the event over its history since it began in the 1960s.
Now the Met is once more showing protesters that officers are ready for a clampdown especially after the recent unrest in Britain.
Officers have been raiding the houses of people who have allegedly been plotting to cause mayhem during the bank holiday next week.
The police arrested 40 people on Wednesday over fears that they could cause what the force described as “trouble” during the event.
The Met said they made the arrests on Wednesday after they picked up “chatter” on social networking sites about plotting to disrupt the carnival.
The Met is also deploying up to 10,000 officers on the streets of the capital over the weekend to show off police might to potential “troublemakers” in the biggest policing operation in the event's history.
The Notting Hill Carnival has been held annually in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea each August since 1964 by the Caribbean minority especially the Trinidadian and Tobagonian British population.
The festival is rooted in the angry reactions to the racial prejudices against the Caribbean black population in the 1950's and has been a flashpoint of Caribbean youths' clashes with the police over the continuous harassment of the minority group since 1976 when there were hundreds-strong protests and serious outbreaks of violence.
The most recent chapter of chaos came in 2008 when police arrested 500 people in connection with protest rallies around the carnival.
Analysts believe mayhem is unavoidable during the carnival scheduled for three days beginning on Saturday next week as more people in different ethnic and economic strata of the British society feel outraged by the prevalent discriminations and the hopeless performance of the government in tackling economic and social problems.
The British police are concerned that the suppressed flames of public anger that burnt the UK during the recent unrest could once more flare and affect areas of the cities where things are expected to be calm during the carnival.
The Met has already announced they would deploy 4,000 officers to such areas and that all officers' leaves have been cancelled.
“At this stage, it would be fair to say we do have intelligence that some gangs want to come to the carnival and create trouble for us,” said Commander Steve Rodhouse, who is in charge of policing the event.
“Plus we know that some people believe that we will be diverted from policing the rest of London due to the Notting Hill Carnival leaving the rest of the capital without a policing presence. This is not the case,” he added.
Rodhouse further said the “degree of chatter” on public networking websites has been compatible with previous years and there is no intelligence that widespread violence is planned yet he insisted the unusual circumstance after the recent unrest make it “only right that we've thoroughly reviewed our operation for the Notting Hill Carnival.”
As part of their “pre-emptive” moves, the police are also busy monitoring social networking websites on a 24-hour basis to make more arrests to prevent action by potential protesters.
Meanwhile, there have been calls on officials to relocate the event to the nearby Hyde Park to prevent potential protesters from operating in an environment that favors them over the police.
source
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195682.html