[Effectiveness of Crowd Management and Crowd Control at Events in the United Kingdom]

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Introduction

Research Aim & Objectives

The aim of this research is to determine the effectiveness o crowd management and crowd control at events in the UK. The aim requires the following objectives to be fulfilled in order to answer the research question:

To identify the techniques are available to control crowds at events

To determine the best practices of crowd management

Research Question

How can crowd control and crowd management be made most effective?

Working Title: Effectiveness of Crowd Management and Crowd Control at Events in the United Kingdom

Background of the Study

Every police agency must plan for crowd control and civil disturbance. Consider the myriad of reasons that have precipitated riots in recent history: sporting events, wedding receptions, labor disputes, social gatherings college campus activities and police action. Even the smallest agency can potentially be faced with an out of control crowd when rival high schools play a championship game. While some events may be spontaneous, many can be anticipated.

The most successful techniques of crowd control are the ones that have risk-- reduction strategies in place. This means taking into consideration the safety of your deputies, the citizens you are sworn to protect, as well as public and private property. It also means having the right tools available to the men and women responsible for crowd control.

A crowded shopping mall the day will usually represent only a minimal problem related to traffic backups more than a need for actual crowd control. If evangelist Billy Graham were preaching to an auditorium across the street from the mall, you'd probably need to step up crowd control measures to maximize traffic flow. However, you certainly wouldn't need the same ratio of deputies to people that you would with a postgame Superbowl crowd that has been partying all day. Even so, crowds that generally are peaceful can quickly turn into a destructive force, given the "right" set of circumstances. Unfortunately, some of the very events that should be crowd pleasers have led to violent and even deadly situations.

Even with modern technology and an array of tools to aid sheriffs' deputies in dealing with so many different crowd dynamics, the best way to prevent trouble is to be proactive and reduce risks as much as possible (Skorackyi, 1999, pp. 20).

Determine where the police will encounter and resolve the disturbance. Use the forces to channel and direct the crowd ...