Stormzy slams London police for linking drug busts to Notting Hill Carnival

British rapper Stormzy has criticised officers from London’s Metropolitan Police for linking drug and gang crime to the Notting Hill Carnival.
On Tuesday (22Aug17) London police chiefs announced they’d begun a major crackdown on drug and gang crime ahead of the event, which is led by members of Britain’s West Indian community and runs from Sunday (27Aug17) to Monday (28Aug17).
A post from the Metropolitan Police’s official account read, “Prior to #NottingHillCarnival, we’re disrupting gang crime, drug supply, knife crime & offences that could impact the safety of the weekend.”
Quoting the tweet, Stormzy questioned officers’ bias in targeting an event associated with Britain’s black community.
He wrote, “How many drugs did you lot seize in the run up to Glastonbury or we only doing tweets like this for black events?”
The hip-hop star later added, “Genuine question”.
Police officers announced they nearly 300 arrests had been made in London as part of the pre-carnival crackdown.
However they were criticised over a post linking the carnival to the seizure of a kilogramme (two pounds, three ounces) of heroin in the suburb of Catford, which is 12 miles away from Notting Hill.
In a statement issued on Tuesday (22Aug17) police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Robyn Williams defended the raids.
“Our officers have been proactive and focused on tackling serious violence and knife crime across London,” he said. “Today’s operation is aimed at ensuring that those who intend to cause trouble at Carnival are prohibited from doing so.”
The Notting Hill Carnival is one of the world’s largest street festivals, with this year’s (17) event expected to attract an estimated two million people.