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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:27 pm
Time: 9:27 pm
Results for riots and public disorder
1 results foundAuthor: Narr, Tony Title: Police Management of Mass Demonstrations: Identifying Issues and Successful Approaches Summary: Perhaps there is no greater challenge for police officers in a democracy than that of managing mass demonstrations. It is here, after all, where the competing goals of maintaining order and protecting the freedoms of speech and assembly meet. Police in the United States have a long history of handling mass demonstrations. During the 1960s and throughout the Vietnam War era, American law enforcement was tested time and again on how to best manage mass protest demonstrations. Often the police succeeded brilliantly in peacefully managing hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. At other times, the actions of the police became the unintended focus of protesters and the centerpiece of media coverage of the event. Tough lessons were learned during this period. In the relative calm that followed for almost twenty years, police attention to preparedness for mass demonstration events assumed a lower priority than it had in previous decades. The 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization (WTO) protest changed all that, sending shock waves felt by police agencies around the world. By all accounts, the events that took place in Seattle and the reactions of the police became a vital lesson for police everywhere-learn from this experience or risk repeating it. In fact, then-Chief of Police Norm Stamper came to a Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) meeting shortly after the WTO demonstration and shared the lessons that grew out of Seattle. I recall Chuck Ramsey, Chief of Police in Washington, D.C., and John Timoney, then-commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department (and who later became Chief of Police in Miami), listening carefully to those lessons. Both chiefs would later be tested by major mass demonstration events in their own cities. Since the events in Seattle, we have endured the events of September 11, 2001. These, too, have had an impact on how police handle mass demonstrations. If our concern before focused primarily on out-of-control demonstrators or anarchists, today police executives must be mindful that large-scale events may represent an opportunity for terrorists to carry out their own agenda in a very public and dangerous way. As such, the challenge of policing mass demonstrations highlights a number of issues for today's police executive, including How to effectively manage police resources to deal with large numbers of people who may be either expressing their fundamental constitutional right to protest or who simply are gathering spontaneously after a major sports victory; How to work with business/community members who are not involved in the demonstration/celebration but who have an expectation that the police will protect them and their property from unlawful or destructive behavior; How to effectively gather information for a planned or spontaneous mass demonstration; How to integrate local, state and federal resources- and maintain accountability; How to identify the policy issues and what procedures and safeguards should be in place for mass arrests; Determining what level of force should be used when demonstrators become unruly and who gives the command to use it; and n Clarifying the role of the agency's chief executive before, during and after an event. Who is in charge of managing the demonstration? These questions and many more are the focus of this publication. This report is not so much a detailed, operational guide as it is an overview of the major issues to consider when planning the police role in managing a mass demonstration. While most police chiefs will be aware of a great many of the issues raised, this report sheds light on a number of issues that are not as easily recognized for their potential to derail the efforts of police. Our hope is to offer police executives and operational commanders a snapshot of lessons already learned and a roadmap through the steps they will take in preparation for future major mass demonstration events. This report is part of the PERF Critical Issues publication series, and we are very grateful for Motorola, Inc.'s, support of this effort. We are especially grateful to the police chiefs and their staffs who contributed their time and ideas to this project. Details: Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum, 2006. 110p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 16, 2014 at: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/police%20management%20of%20mass%20demonstrations%20-%20identifying%20issues%20and%20successful%20approaches%202006.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United States URL: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/police%20management%20of%20mass%20demonstrations%20-%20identifying%20issues%20and%20successful%20approaches%202006.pdf Shelf Number: 130801 Keywords: Crowd ControlDisorderly ConductMass DemonstrationsRiots and Public Disorder |