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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01ws859j420
Title: The police response to mass demonstrations: Promising practices and lessons learned
Contributors: Police Executive Research Forum
Keywords: Riot control—United States
Demonstrations—United States
Police-community relationsDemonstrations—United States
Civil rights—United States
Issue Date: 2018
Publisher: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
Place of Publication: Washington, D.C.
Description: Because police departments are responsible for managing and facilitating demonstrations, departments need to review existing strategies, and modify them if necessary, to meet the challenges these trends present. Police departments should start by ensuring all officers understand that their role is to facilitate demonstrators’ First Amendment rights while protecting public safety. In addition, the police should also convey this message to the public so community members know that police officers understand their role. Police departments also need to find ways of communicating with demonstrators to discuss logistics, to develop a plan, and to establish expectations, all of which may be difficult when demonstrations occur spontaneously, with little or no established leadership structure. Finally, police departments must help officers to manage the increased stress that can result from managing protesters who are often antagonistic toward the police. In short, the challenges facing police departments today include how to protect the First Amendment rights of protesters and ensure the public’s safety while also maintaining the safety and well-being of officers.This report shared lessons learned and promising practices for the following topics: 1. Communicating with demonstrators 2. Response planning and preparation 3. Training 4. Use of force 5. Maintaining officer wellness 6. Mutual aid 7. Arrest policies 8. Transparency and accountability
URI: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01ws859j420
Related resource: http://www.policeforum.org/assets/PoliceResponseMassDemonstrations.pdf
Appears in Collections:Monographic reports and papers (Publicly Accessible)

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