Crowd Management

Duties of Law Enforcement at Potentially Violent Demonstration or Labor Dispute

1. Crowd and demonstration control

A crowd generally is aware of the law and usually respects the principles of law and order. However, often emotions become so high that they overrule order. In confronting a crowd, law enforcement should know the reason for the meeting, determine the general characteristics of the individuals (and the crowd), and know well the area in which the crowd gathers.

One popular method of controlling factors, which affect emotions, is to have a permit system for the registering of meetings and assemblies. The permit system is a local ordinance provision and not a state law. Officers should check for this provision in their respective jurisdiction. In a permit system; organizers must apply for a permit in order to hold meetings or gatherings. In such a situation, the permit issuers (often a law enforcement agency) can set rules and regulations for these meetings that must be followed or the permit may be canceled. Certain elements, such as those discussed below, can be controlled in an effort to prevent their effect on the emotions of the crowd at the meeting. Promoters and organizers can be held legally responsible for the group’s behavior. This encourages the organizer to "police" his group to ensure a peaceful meeting. It allows law enforcement time to plan for the event.

1. Crowd control plan/planned event

A plan developed to give officers direction and to establish a departmental plan of action and a guiding philosophy for police response and actions. Some key points are:

NOTE: Show slide, “Duties of Law Enforcement at Demonstrations.”

1. Observe spectators rather than the event.

2. Avoid unnecessary conversation.

3. Keep outside the crowd.

4. Identify and watch crowd agitators.

1. Control of lawful demonstrations

   1. A lawful demonstration should not be looked upon with disapproval by law enforcement. First Amendment rights must be respected and protected!

   2. The visible officers should be kept to a minimum; normal dress should be worn.

   3. Proper liaison between law enforcement and the demonstrators often prevents trouble.

   4. Use of probation and parole officers to identify potential troublemakers. Their presence may affect persons on some form of supervised court release.

   5. Use of plain-clothes officers to monitor the crowd from within the group and identify potential troublemakers.

2. Control of an unlawful disturbance or riot

Riot control experts agree that the sooner you disperse a riotous crowd the sooner to begin to regain control. Unlawful actions during a riot should not be allowed to continue. However, you must have sufficient dispersal/control forces on hand to deal with a crowd.

1. Dispersal is the key, not mass arrest, when it comes to stopping a riotous crowd.

2. Diplomacy is preferred over forcible action, if possible. Officers must work to not over-react to a crowd, yet they must prepare to react if necessary to disperse the crowd as quickly as possible.

3. When forming up a dispersal squad, do so out of sight of the crowd, yet close enough to respond quickly if needed. This is necessary to keep the crowd from knowing what you are doing until your dispersal units are ready to act.

1. Characteristics of a riot

   1. Types of violence

NOTE: Show slide, “Types of Violence.”
A riot is mob violence, a contagious striking out at authority and the symbols of authority. It may consist of indiscriminate looting and burning; it may be open attacks on officials, buildings or innocent bystanders; or it may be both. Law enforcement must control group violence. Law enforcement, therefore, must be carefully instructed about the kinds of violence they may encounter.

1. Verbal and written abuse

Anticipate both; the purpose of this tactic is to anger and demoralize law enforcement and cause them to take individual actions that may later be exploited as "police brutality."

2. Noise

This is a two-prong attack. Leaders of unruly crowds use noise to keep the emotions high in the mob; while working to confuse, fatigue and disorient control force personnel.

1. Attacks on officers and their equipment

2. Thrown objects

3. Moving vehicles

4. Destruction of property and looting

5. Demolitions and explosions

6. Weapons and firearms

1. Tactics employed by rioters

Conventional mob tactics restricted by area and leadership can be effectively stopped by traditional move, divide, and disperse techniques. There is a new tactic being used now, however, that is designed to counter the measures employed by law enforcement. It thrives on deception, confusion, and the “divide-and-conquer” theory. The following are some of the tactics employed by “organized mobs.”

1. Numerous false calls to the fire department to scatter and render fire-fighting equipment ineffective.

2. False calls of “officer in trouble” are used to divert law enforcement manpower, or to cause officers to converge on a certain area to attract a large crowd that may be incited to riot.

3. Interfering with a law enforcement officer in his/her line of duty, forcing her/him to take action against agitators. Then the cry of “police brutality” is raised.

4. Reliance on emotional appeal to the masses.

5. Blocking or flooding the law enforcement switchboard with false or petty calls.

6. Use of walkie-talkies on citizens bands by mob leaders to control the operations of the mob.

7. Use of direct coordinated attacks of control force with similar formations and protective gear, i.e., the anarchist groups in the WTO event known as the “Battle for Seattle” in 1999.

8. There is no limit to mob ingenuity, and officers must recognize the effectiveness of mob psychology as employed by the advocates of violence.

1. Countermeasure operations, which can enhance control force operations and safety.

NOTE: Show slide, “Countermeasure Operations.”

1. Downtown - Secure rooftops and side streets; having moving patrols and watching for sniper fire are essential.

2. Residential areas - same as for downtown areas only security may become an additional problem due to the additional space and lack of accessibility into private residences.

3. Barricades - Must be such that they impede protester movement. Passive barricade do little to deter a mob bent on violence.

4. Looting - Foot patrols or D.A.R.T. (Dispersal, Arrest, Rescue Teams), which will be explained in more detail later in the lesson, can effectively deal with this type of activity.

5. Vital buildings - Law enforcement must gain entry, secure sensitive areas, and initiate action to remove the rioters.

NOTE: Ask students to name the types of vital buildings in their jurisdictions. Write responses on board or flip chart. Typical responses should be:

1. Police headquarters

2. Fire and EMS stations

3. Hospitals

4. Pawn shops, hardware and sporting goods/guns stores

5. Power and communications facilities

1. Teamwork - Stick together; a lone officer is a waste of manpower and merely stimulates the ugly tendencies of the crowd.

2. Post-riot control - Once suppressed, positive action must prevent a recurrence. Try to correct the source of trouble and re-establish normal relations in the community.

   1. Use of COP teams

   2. Work with community leaders

   3. Make positive community contacts

1. Law enforcement operations at a strike scene

   1. Dynamics of labor disputes

The dynamics of a labor dispute are very complex. To better understand the related law enforcement problems involved in this duty, officers should look at several perspectives: free speech, police power at the scene, picketing, employer and non-striking employees, and access to company property.

1. The right of strikers to picket is protected by the courts on the ground that it is a valid expression of freedom of speech.

2. Exercise of the police powers must be reasonable in relation to the actions which it is designed to combat, and must be neither arbitrary nor discriminatory.

3. An employer and his employees who do not strike also have rights to be protected. Under North Carolina law, employees do not have to join a union to be employed or continue to work; therefore, they have a right to work without interference from striking employees.

4. The law is clear that an employer has the legal right of ingress and egress to and from his premises without prior consultation with the picketers; employees, customers, and others seeking to enter or leave the employer's premises also have the right to do so without interference from the picket lines.

1. Duties of law enforcement

It is the duty of law enforcement to see to it that the strikers' right to picket and make known their grievances in a legal manner is protected; to see that persons are able to freely exercise their right to enter and leave company premises at will and without regard to the existence of a strike; and to maintain the peace and protect the rights and property of all persons involved.

3. Do's for law enforcement

NOTE: Show slide, “Do’s for Law Enforcement.”

1. Be totally impartial (neutral) at all times.

2. If you have a close relative or friend involved in the dispute, let your superior know of it; he may determine to temporarily transfer or reassign you.

3. It is the responsibility of the supervising officer to see to it that necessary information is passed on. The policies and approach of law enforcement personnel at the scene should be consistent.

4. All discussions relative to the dispute situation between or among the officers and either or both of the disputants should take place at the supervisor level and should be taped whenever possible.

5. Taverns or other places providing alcoholic beverages in the area should be notified of any potential problems involving the purchase and use of alcoholic beverages and asked to assist by being especially watchful for abuses involving alcoholic beverages or the ABC laws.

6. The general public should be kept a safe distance from the area of the dispute, but not so far that the general public is either actually or constructively excluded from viewing and comprehending the substance of the grievance being protested against. A safe distance is a distance that tends to lessen tensions and assure law enforcement clear and safe room for action should violence erupt. Safe distances will vary directly in relation to tensions and dangers attendant at the dispute scene.

7. Be aware of agitators, professional or other, who may attempt to put law enforcement in a position in which they appear to be taking sides.

8. Give clear and audible instructions when asked directions by a disputant.

9. Keep pedestrian and vehicular traffic on any nearby sidewalks and streets moving.

10. Do not engage in unsolicited intelligence or information gathering at the strike scene unless directed to do so through the chain of command; if you do come upon information you feel would be useful, report it through the chain of command.

11. In handling vehicles passing through (or attempting to) a picket line:

    1. Have a labor official direct the pickets to clear the entrance, if possible; if not then break the picket line only temporarily as necessary to accomplish the movement.

    2. Do not give the impression you are directing vehicles to enter or leave. The driver seeking to enter or leave the picketed premises should be allowed to make his own decision whether to enter or leave.

    3. Union officials should be allowed to communicate with the drivers of the vehicles seeking to enter or leave the picketed premises; if the driver of the vehicle refuses to communicate with the union official, that is his right.

    4. “Don’ts” for law enforcement at a strike scene

NOTE: Show slide, “Do Not.”

1. 
   Do not, under any circumstances, discuss the merits of the dispute with any person involved at the dispute.
   
2. 
   Do not become provoked by name-calling or derogatory remarks directed at you.
   
3. 
   Do not at any time go to the scene of the dispute to obtain information unless directed to do so by the chain of command.
   
4. 
   Do not discuss an injunction with anyone involved in the dispute. The injunction is civil in nature and should be treated as such. However, if a court issues one, you will enforce it as you would any other order of the court if the court directs en-forcement.⁸
   
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