Full Description
Crowds are among the most visible expressions of democracy—whether in celebration, protest, or tragedy—but they are also moments of tension, where rights, safety, and authority collide. This book explores how societies manage these critical encounters. Drawing on dramatic case studies from Britain, Europe, and the United States, it reveals how crowd psychology and policing intersect, why disorder spreads, and how legitimacy can be won or lost in the space of a single decision.
Policing the Crowd is the first comprehensive account of how crowd psychology has transformed policing. What makes the book distinctive is the depth of its embedded research: written from inside the process, it offers unmatched insight into how evidence has directly shaped policing practice and policy reform.
Some of the key features of the book are as follows:
Traces the history of public order policing from nineteenth-century Britain to the English riots of 2011 and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020
Explains how ideas about crowds evolved—from classical theories to the social identity approach
Presents how these theories were tested in practice across diverse settings: in football stadiums, on city streets, and in moments of national crisis
Provides comparative analysis across the UK, US, and Europe
Reveals how embedded research partnerships translated theory into practical operational strategies
Emphasizes legitimacy, dialogue, and facilitation as critical elements in conflict prevention
Combining compelling case studies with theoretical clarity, it provides scholars, practitioners, and policymakers with a powerful framework for understanding and managing one of democracy's greatest challenges.
Contents
1. Introducing Policing the Crowd: From rights to realities Section I Historical, Legal, and Operational Foundations 2. Historical Foundations of Crowd Policing in the UK 3. Historical Foundations of Crowd Policing in the US 4. Legal Frameworks for Policing Crowds Section II Theoretical Foundations 5. The Crowd as a threat: the ideological origins and legacy of classical crowd psychology 6. From Irrational Crowds to Collective Identity: The Social Identity Model 7. From Identity to Interaction: The Elaborated Social Identity Model of Crowd Conflict 8. Interaction, Identity, and Legitimacy: Revisiting the Theory of Public Order Policing Section III From Theory to Practice (Europe) 9. From Explanation to Intervention: Testing ESIM in Football Disorder 10. From Coercion to Consent: Institutionalising Dialogue in Protest Policing 11. From Ignition to Diffusion: Understanding the Spread of Riots Section IV Contemporary Challenges and Reform in the US 12. From George Floyd to CHAZ: Protest, Policing, and Escalation in Seattle 13. From Conflict to Co-Production: The Columbus Model of Protest Policing 14. Conclusions - From Crowd Control to Public Order Management
