Crowds and Public Order Policing

This research is based on observations made of 33 crowd events between February 1992 - February 1995. These took place in Turkey, England and Wales and all of which involved a large police deployment. In addition, informal interviews were conducted in both countries, involving key figures in areas of police public order training and practice. Further, visits were made to training sites and public order units, to familiarise the researcher with public order policing in both countries. Finally, the researcher has attended three major public order courses organised for the senior members of British police forces.

This research analyzes the underlying assumptions contained within the existing theories in the field and attempts to adjudicate on the validity of both classical and modern contributions to the understanding of the field. The research concludes that any public order policing, regardless of the political system it serves, will tend to be relatively paramilitary and oppressive.

Civilian public order policing practices need to take account of an approach which appreciates a wide combination of levels of understanding as represented by Combined Factors Approach. Finally, it is argued that the more public order policy reflects the potential level of understanding promoted by the CFA the less emphasis on paramilitary techniques will be deployed as tactics of last resort.