What is it about?

We are using computer simulation methods to study police crowd control tactics - specifically the crowd containment tactic known as kettling, employed mainly during protests or demonstrations. Kettling involves a formation of police officers in large cordons surrounding a crowd of protesters in order to restrict its movement and hence prevent a riot from occurring. Recent years has seen an increase in its use by police forces in countries like the UK, Germany, and Canada.

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Why is it important?

The researchers investigate the variables involved in the complex crowd containment scenario, such as the size and behavior of the protester crowd as well as the physical make-up of the police cordons, and analyzes how they affect the stability and penetrability of the kettling formation. Their results point to an optimal configuration of the formation in terms of the structural arrangement and number of layers of police cordons which will effectively contain a crowd of protesters of a given size.

Perspectives

We expect our research to be the first of many steps in the development of a virtual training tool for police in crowd-related incidents and demonstrations. While practical training for such scenarios is essential for any police force, it is often expensive and time-consuming. Crowd control simulation provides a safe and cost-effective supplement to such training.

Dr Kardi Teknomo
Ateneo de Manila University

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This page is a summary of: Simulating police containment of a protest crowd, SIMULATION, December 2015, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0037549715621388.
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