Crowd Control
The Crowd Control topic focuses on the difficult task of controlling large groups of people with a limited number of police officers and resources. The police crowd control articles and tips in this section focus on strategy, policy, planning and tactics that can help quell a riled-up crowd and riot gear — helmets and shields — that will keep them safe in the process.
Law enforcement must be prepared for the worst when a controversial verdict is read, protestors become violent or a sports team wins a championship and the celebration spills to the streets.
Law enforcement agencies must carefully balance the optics of providing public safety during protests while preparing for the potential of violence
Police responses to public protests and unrest have varied over time
Different police tactics yield different responses from protesters: tactical mismatches are likely to influence escalation as well as who joins or desists from protest events
An officer who has met with and walked with demonstrators a number of times was approached by a male protester and shoved
From voicing support to raising officer safety concerns, here’s a roundup of responses
The suspect then got out of his car, gun in hand, and made his way through demonstrators toward a line of police before he was taken into custody
Portland mayor Ted Wheeler ordered the city to stop using a common type of tear gas except as a last resort
The officers are accused of taking steps that led a 75-year-old activist to fall backward, striking his head on the sidewalk
Video from WBFO shows the man appearing to hit his head on the pavement, with blood leaking out
As the nation grapples with widespread civil unrest, moments of connection have emerged
Police officers need to be able to apply the right combination of tactics to maintain or restore peace and personally survive while doing it
At one point, a Washington crowd booed when a protester climbed a light post and took down a street sign. A chant went up: “Peaceful protest!”
“Something has to break, and it’s not going to be us,” said one demonstrator
A vehicle plowed through a group of cops in NY, and two people were killed during unrest in a Chicago suburb
At least one appeared to go under the vehicle’s wheels
Trump said he was recommending that governors deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers to “dominate the streets”
City and state officials had deployed thousands of National Guard soldiers, enacted strict curfews and shut down mass transit systems, but that did little to stop unrest
A large crowd on a bridge quickly parted as a tanker truck approached at full speed
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said she and police Chief Erika Shields made the decision after reviewing body-camera footage
A rare citywide curfew expired as dawn revealed broken shop windows, demolished security gates and graffiti along entire blocks
Protesters threw projectiles at officers, surrounded patrol vehicles and shouted threats, and damaged police property
Continuing civil unrest saw protesters torch police cars and burglarize stores while clashing with lines of officers
At least a dozen major cities nationwide imposed overnight curfews ranging from 6 p.m. in parts of South Carolina to 10 p.m. around Ohio
Fox’s Leland Vittert was rattled following the Washington attack he said was clearly targeted at his news organization
A pickup truck drove through a crowd of protesters Saturday in Florida’s capital, sending some running and screaming
No matter what anyone says, one good cop has always been able to make a difference in any bailiwick
Gov. Tim Walz said he was moving quickly to mobilize more than 1,000 more Guard members, for a total of 1,700, and was considering the potential offer of federal military police
Demonstrators in Portland also vandalized and stole from buildings and flouted the city’s established curfew
As unrest spread across dozens of US cities, the Pentagon took the rare step of ordering the Army to put several active-duty U.S. military police units on the ready to deploy
Georgia’s governor declared a state of emergency early Saturday to activate the state National Guard as violence flared in Atlanta and in dozens of cities nationwide
Videos of protests and confrontations with police officers in cities nationwide have circulated on social media
Demonstrators threw projectiles at officers, tried to grab an officer’s gun and obstructed roadways, officials said
Around 500 to 600 demonstrators marched through the Kentucky city’s downtown streets on Thursday night
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