Policing Matters Podcast: How crowd control needs to evolve as protests turn more violent

Download this week's episode on iTunes, SoundCloud or via RSS feed

A white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in mid-August left a 32-year-old woman dead and nearly two dozen other people injured when a deranged white nationalist drove his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters. There were other violent clashes in the streets that saw too little separation between the opposing factions. At the time of this recording session, there was a far-right rally planned in San Francisco (it was suddenly and unexpectedly cancelled late Friday afternoon). The city is organizing a “block party” to give the opposing side a place to gather. It’s nearly five miles away. That tactic is a reminder that law enforcement must continue to develop new ways to deal with the threat of violent clashes between opposing factions. In this week’s podcast, Jim and Doug discuss how crowd control is changing.