An ex-Scotland Yard inspector claims that the Notting Hill Carnival is the "ultimate example of two-tier policing", amid allegations officers fear being called racist for making arrests.
Former detective, Mike Neville said that if the behaviour previously seen at the Carnival was repeated at events such as football matches, "it would be banned".
It comes as 7,000 Metropolitan Police officers have been deployed for the two-day event which expects to see more than a million people attend.
A total of 275 arrests were made during the Carnival last year after eight people were stabbed and 80 officers were assaulted.
An ex-Scotland Yard inspector claims that the Notting Hill Carnival is the "ultimate example of two-tier policing", amid allegations officers fear being called racist for making arrestsGetty/ PANeville alleges that officers are "hesitant to make arrests" in fear of being called racist.
"If the behaviour of the Notting Hill Carnival was replicated at football matches or any other event it would be banned," he told The Telegraph.
"You see people openly smoking drugs, abuse of police officers, dancing with female officers to the point of sexual assault."
The Notting Hill Carnival launched in 1966 in celebration of Afro-Caribbean culture.
Neville claimed that police "are told only to arrest in the most extreme circumstances" amid community sensitivities.
Scotland Yard has denied allegations it applies two-tier policing to the event.
Commander Charmain Brenyah said: "Officers will be maintaining a vigilant presence in and around the carnival in an effort to identify and intervene against anyone intent on committing violence.
"They will use their search powers where there are grounds to do so in order to take weapons off the streets."
Brenyah added that the "numbers [of people] have grown so significantly over the years that the scale of the modern-day event is unrecognisable".
Specialist crowd management has been launched again this year to help monitor the density and flow of the crowd.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan previously claimed the carnival is statistically as safe as Glastonbury or the Reading festivals, and safer than England football matches at Wembley Stadium.
