Crowd Management

Introduction

1. Opening Statement

NOTE: Show slide, “Crowd Management.”
Imagine these calls: “Unit #2, respond to Fourth and Main St. Report of a group of 10-15 people fighting outside the Barrel Lounge,” or “Respond to a loud party call involving approximately 40 to 50 teens reportedly drinking under age.”
Crowd management is necessary any time officers deal with three or more individuals in a group. Group behavior is a dynamic part of any crowd and the failure to understand this can lead to a crowd confrontation and jeopardize your safety and that of the community. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution and our state constitution guarantees freedom of speech and the right to lawful assembly. It does not, however, protect against unlawful, violent or destructive behavior.
Unfortunately, our history is marked with incidents where these rights have been abused, resulting in mobs and riots that left death and destruction in their wake. The actions or inactions of officers can turn a crowd into a hostile mob. Do not under estimate the potential of a riot occurring in your jurisdiction. It may not be of the magnitude of those in large cities, but they can and do occur.
The growing phenomenon of riots occurring at sporting events should be a concern of every jurisdiction that has them—yes, even at your local hometown high school. Preparation for crowd management must begin before the event. There may be times, however, when you have little or no time to prepare, so we must begin our planning and preparation now.

2. Training Objectives

NOTE: Show slide, “Training Objectives.”

3. Reasons

In day-to-day activities the officer will find himself engaged in duties related to crowd control. These tasks may range from controlling a curious group of bystanders at the scene of an accident to the possibility of a hostile crowd bent on riot and destruction. The officer must be equipped with knowledge to properly handle and respond to this type of situation.

The actions you take initially can make the problem more manageable or can lead to the loss of control and a destructive riot. The primary goal of any officer is to protect life and property. By implementing the options and tactics in this block of instruction and understanding the dynamics of crowd behavior, you will be able to initiate steps to properly protect yourself and contain the crowd, if not disperse the crowd before it becomes a major problem.

2. Body

   1. Crowds

      1. Civil disobedience occurs in many forms, from small-scale neighborhood disputes to bar fights and sports victory celebrations gone wild, to planned civil disobedience and violent protest or riots. As law enforcement officers, we generally view our actions as one-on-one with those persons who break the law. We must learn to see our actions on a broader plane, especially when taking action in a group setting.

Actions taken by an individual officer--right or wrong--can be viewed negatively by a group and ultimately lead to civil unrest. Officers should not ignore unlawful behavior, but should use tact and diplomacy when confronted by a crowd.

1. Lessening the possibility of hostile group attack on officers.

2. Gives the officer time to consolidate resources to help diffuse, contain or disperse a crowd before a problem develops.

1. A crowd is best described as a number of persons temporarily congregated in an area. Crowds form for many different reasons. Individuals congregated in a given area usually have no common bond other than their curiosity of an event. There are also planned crowd activities such as political rallies, sporting events, and parties.

2. North Carolina law also establishes the legal definition of a crowd, when they become or are about to become disorderly. NCGS 14-288/Riot defines a riot (crowd) as, “a public disturbance involving an assemblage of three or more persons which by disorderly and violent conduct, results in injury or damage to persons or property or creates a clear and present danger of injury or damage to persons or property.” This does not mean that every crowd is a riot, but one should remember, “Every crowd has the potential to become a riot.” You must look at the actions of the group and their potential to become a disorderly or violent conduct.

3. Normally, crowds are orderly, lawful in their actions, and not endangering life or property. This type of crowd situation does not present a major problem to law enforcement officials. Our actions or failure to act or act properly can turn a crowd from peaceful to confrontational or violent.

1. Types of Crowds Crowds are divided into two major categories, physical and psychological. Each of these are then broken down into corresponding sub-categories.

NOTE: Show slide, “Crowd Types.”

1. The physical crowd

   1. A physical crowd is characterized by density of contact and showing no significant group behavior. The physical crowd has little or no organization, no unity of purpose, and its members come and go. (Example: mall or major festival type event)

   2. The physical crowd is the conventional crowd or casual crowd. This crowd is characterized by density of contact showing no significant group behavior. They are, however, usually assembled for a purpose but have no common bond and are not dependent on each other to act.¹

2. The psychological crowd

The psychological crowd is an assemblage of people who have a sustained common interest and respond emotionally to the same stimuli. (Example: ball game, political speech, parades, fires, accidents or disturbances)

Types of psychological crowds:

1. Sightseer or sightseeing crowd

This crowd is characterized by their common bond (a single purpose for being at a certain place). They are characterized as curiosity seekers, mostly cooperative, and sometimes anxious to assist. Officers must retain their cooperation while attempting to disperse them. One must determine an appropriate action. Some groups may respond to a stern warnings or direction, while this same action may set off another group. The best course of action is to start with diplomacy and gain their cooperation. Also taking away the “show” or focal event will often help this crowd to disperse on its own.

2. Expressive or agitated crowd

Members of the expressive crowd are involved in some kind of expressive behavior, such as a block party or political rally. This type of crowd is emotionally involved and can easily become agitated if approached improperly. For the most part, they want to have a good time or express their point of view. If possible, and as long as there is no breach of peace, it is best to let the crowd release their energies by permitting them to express themselves.

Officers must be aware of the emotional climate of this group in order to find a way to reduce the arousing level and successfully disperse the crowd. Otherwise, officers risk the possibility of turning the crowd into an aggressive and destructive mob. Here a direction to disperse, under the authority of NCGS 14-288.5 – “Failure to disperse when commanded” – may be an effective option. The art is knowing when to use this type of stern direction, versus seeking cooperation. In any case, one must be aware of when and how to effectively use the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law and vice-versa.
Expressive or agitated crowds are an unorganized group of people willing to be led into lawlessness but hesitate to act because it lacks

1. Organization,

2. Courage,

3. Unity.

They are noisy, willing to threaten and taunt or harass police; however, they refrain from physical attack.²

3. Mob (hostile/aggressive)

A mob is a crowd whose members, under the stimulus of intense excitement and agitation, lose their sense of reason. They can also lose respect for sense of order, law, and respect for each other. This type of crowd is a riot under NC law.³

Types of mobs:
NOTE: Show slide, “Mob Types.”

1. Escape mob

A highly emotionally charged crowd driven by fright describes the escape mob. People involved are driven by an overpowering fright, which creates an emotional, unreasonable, and frantic behavior driving the crowd to seek safety. This type of mob is extremely difficult to control because the group, even though together and acting as one, is interested in individual survival.

One must try to channel this type of crowd as they move from one area to another. This is necessary to reduce the potential of injury caused by the mob upon other members of the fear driven mob. Never stand in front of this emotionally driven or you may be seriously injured.

2. The aggressive mob

This is a mob that will attack, riot, and terrorize others. The aim of the mob is the destruction of property and physical attacks on persons. The actions of the crowd or the sight of blood often drives them to frenzy.

3. Acquisitive mob

NOTE: Give an example of riot at a local retail store, involving parents seeking special toys in your jurisdiction, or use the examples here: Christmas shopping riot at the local Wal-Mart involving 300 parents and only 25 scooters at 0600 hours.
This mob has the desire to acquire something. (Example: The looting of food or merchandise, the taking or attempting to take an officer’s prisoner.) A prisoner taken by officers in a bar or loud party call can also be the target of the crowd as they try to regain control of their peer. When making an arrest, officers must take action to remove prisoners or other persons in-custody as soon as possible to help defuse the focus of this type of group.

4. Expressive mob

The expressive mob is a group expressing intense feelings or revelry. Usually follows some special event. This type of crowd can show itself at your local high school football game.

NOTE: Give an example of a riot at a sporting event in your jurisdiction, or use the examples here: (Example: New Years Eve, major sporting event such as the Detroit Pistons riot on June 16, 1990, when seven were killed during the crowd’s rampage.)
This type of mob can be very destructive.⁴

3.