Rethinking Police Response to Mass Demonstrations Flashcards
According to the FBI, how many homicides occurred in 2020?
Over 21,500.
What model should officers be trained in when facing complex situations in demonstrations?
Critical Decision-Making model
What is the “escalated force model” police used to address demonstrations in the 1960’s?
Police showed dominant force early on to deter criminality and civil disobedience.
What is the “negotiated management model” police used to address demonstrations in the 1970’s?
Police officers were trained to see themselves as helping people facilitate their 1st Amendment rights.
What was the watershed moment that police reverted back to an escalated force model during protests?
Seattle WTO in 1999
What should all commanders know to be prepared to handle large-scale demonstrations?
Incident Command System (ICS) and National Incident Management System (NIMS.)
What does ICS and NIMS provide leaders?
Standardized vocabulary, structure and approach to handle a wide range of incidents.
According to PERF, should flash bangs be used in demonstrations?
No. Not at all
What are the five elements of the Critical Decision Making Model?
- Collect Information
- Assess Situation
- Consider police powers and policy
- Identify options and best course of action.
- Act, review and re-asses.
What were the three crisis of 2020, per Chuck Wexler?
- COVID 19
- George Floyd protest
- Spike in homicide and shootings
Why were the demonstrations of 2020 especially difficult for police to manage?
Because police conduct was the focus of the demonstrations.
How many major recommendations did PERF make about responding to demonstrations?
Nine
What is the #1 recommendation in the PERF report?
Reinventing the role of community. Police must rethink how they engage the community regarding demonstrations.
What is the main benefit to involving community membes as observers at protests?
It avoids the us-vs-them mentality
What are the benefits of providing the public with daily incident reports?
- Demonstrates Transparency
- Helps keep peaceful bystanders away from volatile situations
What platforms should be used to communicate with demonstrators?
- Whatever platforms the demonstrators are using themselves.
- Local Media.
Recommendation #2 says what about communication within the chain of command?
Police need to do a better job at communicating things like goal, tactics, and tools that are acceptable up and down the chain of command.
There should be concrete guidelines about appropriate and inappropriate responses to different types of behavior.
Recommendation #3 says what about training officers and supervisors adequately?
Recommendation #3 says what about training officers and supervisors adequately?
What mindset should be cultivated among officers who respond to demonstrations?
That they are “facilitating” the protest, rather than “policing” it.
Recommendation #4 says police should re-engineer how they think about less lethal weapons. How?
- There is currently little information about the capabilities, limitations, and risks of most less lethal systems beyond what the manufacturers say about them.
- The Justice Department should conduct thorough research on this topic and develop strong policy guidelines.
When should CS gas or chemical irritants be deployed?
Only to address a public safety concern like acts of violence or rioting.
What does PLAN stand for in relation to less lethal force?
Proportionate, Lawful, Accountable, Necessary.
What does Recommendation #5 say about communicating with crowds of protesters?
Crowds need to be warned before deploying less lethal munitions and given specific instructions on what they should do, with a deadline for that action.
We want to avoid situations where crowds are subject to force because they didn’t understand what they needed to do or didn’t have adequate time to do it.
Are live announcements or recordings preferred when communicating with groups of protestors?
Live announcements. They’re more humanizing and less intimidating, apparently.
What does recommendation #6 say about Mass Arrests?
They should be avoided or minimized.
Unnecessary arrests give the impression that the police are suppressing free speech and they take officers away from more important tasks on the front line.
What did recommendation #7 say about mutual aid agreements?
- Agencies should have them in place before they’re needed.
- They should be clear that officers from assisting agencies must abide by the policies and practices of the host agency.
Recommendation #8 says it’s important to prioritize officer safety, health, and wellness for what reasons? (beyond the obvious)
Officers who are burnt out and over-stressed make poor decisions.
Agencies should plan for the logistics of getting food and water to officers in the field, ensure officers have appropriate PPE, and have rotating schedules ready to allow personnel adequate rest.
How can agencies incorporate considerations for officers’ emotional health?
- Create systems that promote officer health and wellness.
- Train officers not to “take it personally”.
- Provide ongoing emotional support services and peer support.
According to recommendation #9, how should responses to demonstrations be reviewed?
Robustly, in both daily briefings during the event and after the fact.
They should also incorporate feedback from the agency internally and from the community.
Why did traditional forms of working with community leaders stop working in 2020?
Social media has allowed many protest groups to function, more or less, without leaders.
What was the most controversial issue during the 2020 demonstrations?
The use of less lethal munitions.
What is the #1 recommendation, the most important one, made in the perf demonstration report?
Police must rethink how they engage the community during demonstrations.
Should invite community leaders to participate in police meetings and trainings.
How many protests occurred in the summer of 2020?
From May 25 to Jul 31, 8700 protests across 68 cities and counties.
How many of the 2020 protests were peacful?
51% peaceful, 42% had unlawful activity and 7% were violent.
What is the research arm of DOJ?
National Institute of Justice
According to Perf and demonstrations, what is PLAN for less lethal tools?,
Proportional
Legal authority
Accountability
Necessary
What are the nine PERF recommendations for demonstrations?
- Community (invite to training and planning)
- Communication (up and down police line)
- Train (officers and supervisors)
- Less Lethal (how it is used)
- Warn (give demonstrators a warning before less lethal)
- Mass Arrests (bad)
- Mutual Aid
- Ofc Wellness
- Robust review (of each demonstration.)
