The Notting Hill Carnival is one of the world's biggest carnivals, a showcase for multicultural celebrations. But the event often makes the news for all the wrong reasons. Kwame goes behind the headlines to explore the complex relationship between the Notting Hill Carnival community and the Metropolitan Police.

From 1973 the Notting Hill Carnival was attracting crowds of a scale rarely seen on the streets of Europe and by 1975 organised gangs of pickpockets were working those crowds. In reaction to such burgeoning criminality, thousands of police officers were placed on duty in the carnival the following year. Large scale policing has characterized the event ever since. There was a major riot in 1976 and there have been occasional clashes since but it's clear that the police are now as much a part of the event as the costume procession.

Producer: Pam Fraser Solomon
A Culture Wise production for BBC Radio 4. Show less