National shame as 45 police officers have been attacked over the bank holiday weekend while policing the Notting Hill Carnival 2016.

While thousands of people turned out to enjoy the sunshine and watch the Carnival a large number of people were arrested.

What is more shocking is 8 Police Officers are now in hospital and 45 officers were attacked over the weekend.

Commander Dave Musker, who was in charge of the policing operation at this year’s event, said: that “”45 incidents of assault against a police officer, for varying degrees of minor injuries and eight officers’ required anti-viral treatment at hospital as a result of being spat at. Of these 45 incidents, 25 assaults resulted in arrest.”

He confirmed he was proud of the officers saying “I am very proud of all the officers and staff who were deployed to Carnival this year. Once again they demonstrated their unwavering professionalism and bravery to ensure this spectacular celebration, that headlines the London event calendar, was not spoilt by a small minority wishing to use the Carnival a cover for committing crime.

“There were 15 reported violent injuries involving a knife or blade. Of these, two people suffered very serious injuries. Both victims are now stable conditions and in both cases arrests have been made and enquiries by officers continue.

“Whilst a total of 454 people were arrested at Carnival over Sunday and Monday, the highest number of arrests in more than a decade, there are contributing factors to this increase. The recent change in legislation around Psychoactive Drugs resulted in a high number of drug related arrests and high volume seizures, including Nitrous Oxide.

“A number of things were done differently this year, including our response to assaults against police officers. Our revised method of recording incidents, Operation Hampshire, has resulted in closer attention being paid to officer welfare, and a higher level of support being provided.

“An anti-social behaviour dispersal zone was also introduced and 47 people were issued with dispersal notices, meaning they had to leave the area and not return within a specified period of time.

“And we also trialled ‘Facial Recognition Technology’. This was the first phase of a trial of the technology and while no individuals were identified by the equipment, the trial has resulted in positive learning to take forward to gain a full understanding of how it can best be used in future.”

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