Transcript mobs and riots investigation

Chapter 16
PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF
MOBS AND RIOTS
1. Preliminary Remarks
• A primary responsibility of the PNP is to
maintain law and order.
• The police can best perform this vital role
when they have the whole hearted support of
all segments of the community-civic
organization s, church leaders, public officials,
business leaders, news media and other
responsible members of the community
2. Types of Crowds:
• Casual crowds
- A casual crowds is a group of people who
happen to be present at a given place but who
are not unified or organized.
- With no common interest or purpose
- They have no particular leaders .
Example: A group of shoppers.
• Cohesive Crowd
- A cohesive crowd is a group of people who
are assembled for some specific purpose.
- Held together by common interest.
- The interest that brought them together is in
most cases momentary and they are usually
not under well-defined leadership.
Example: An audience at a concert, fans at a
sporting event, people watching a fire, or
those present at the scene of an accident.
Note: A casual crowd can very easily turn into
a cohesive crowd.
• Expressive Crowd
- An expressive crowd is a group in which the
people are held together by some common
purpose.
- They usually hold more or less similar
attitudes for or against something.
- They are ordinarily under the direction of a
well-defined leadership and display a unified
mood.
Example: Political rally, picket line, religious
revival.
Note: An expression crowd is at the same
time a cohesive crowd.
• Aggressive Crowd
- In this type, the people, under the positive
leadership and strong emotions, engage in
some kind of aggressive action.
- They come together because of strong
feelings about some issues and show definite
unity in purpose.
- Their action maybe impulsive and highly
emotional and, unfortunately, may become
destructive.
- The aggressive crowd is at the same time
expressive and cohesive.
3. Basic Behavior Patterns in Mobs
a) Aggressive. Often, the object of violence is
some person or group of person, while at
other times, it may be property; in some
cases both.
a) Escapist. This is seen in panic situation.
Individuals driven by overwhelming fear
react emotionally and irrationally to avoid
the sources of danger.
c) Acquisitive. What starts out in some cases as
a riot soon changes into a wild and
uncontrolled looting spree.
d) Expressive. Expressive behavior can very
easily be converted into one of the other
types by a demagogue or professional
agitator.
4. The People Involved.
a) Impulsive and Lawless persons.
b) Suggestible persons. They get into the action
early.
c) Cautious individuals. They wait for the cloak
of anonymity to give them courage to act.
d) Yielder. They hang back on the sidelines and
do not participate until the large number of
persons participating gives impression to act.
e) Supportive. They do not actively join the mob
but enjoy the show and even shout
encouragement .
f) Resister. They maintain level heads and
disagree with the actions of the majority.
g) Psychopathic individuals. They use the
riotous situation as a means of getting even
with the sociaty.
5. The Pattern of Preparation.
a) Factors which prepare the way:
(i) Verbal aggression.
(ii) Increased irritation caused by frustrations.
(iii) Group discontent.
(iv) Provocation, real or imaginary.
(v) Previous isolation cases of violent aggression.
(vi) Social contagion or social facilitation.
b) The role of the rumor.
- Rumor plays a major part in crystallizing
group or public opinion.
- Some expert believe that no riot ever take
place with out build up through rumor.
- A rumor can often be spark that sets off the
explosion.
- It is circulated rapidly and through
distortion, it grows in its ugliness at each
recitation.
6. The Pattern of Action.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Bristling Stage
Growth of crowd
Milling
Precipitating event
Hysterical, uncontrolled violence, anonymity
and universality
f) Spread of violence
7. Aftermath
- it stimulates determination to prepare for
the “ next one “
8. Leadership
- Sometimes spontaneous and sometimes
calculated and organized, these are the
people who whip up the frenzy after which
they stand back and let the others do the
actual fighting.
9. Symptoms to Which Police Must be
Alert
- Increased bitterness as shown in:
a) Sentiments and opinion of the populace.
b) Rumor.
c) Publication frequently give an indication of
the mounting tension.
d) Publication demonstrations.
10. Organize Activities.
- Law enforcement executives must know
what organization are active and what their
programs are.
- Any programs or proposed action must
receive careful study in terms of their effect
on the community and in terms of possible
retaliation by opposing groups.
- Watch for any unusual influx of outsiders.
- Be alert to an increasing mistrust of police.
11. Planning for Disturbance.
- The plan must be thoroughly detailed ahead
of the disturbance and founded upon realistic
consideration.
a) Identification of critical areas or possible
trouble spots.
b) Code signals for mobilization of the force.
c) Coordination with other municipal agencies
and public utilities.
d) Communication equipment for immediate
use and reserve:
(i) Public address system
(ii) Mobile telephone
(iii) Bullhorns
(iv) Walkie-talkie
(v) Radio telephone
e) Illumination and power equipment:
(i) Flashlights
(ii) Generators
(iii) Floodlights
(iv) Searchlights
f) Other equipment:
(i) Oxygen equipment
1. Oxygen cylinder
2. Inhalators
3. Masks
(ii) Police barriers and ropes for temporary
police lines should be ready.
(iii) Vehicles for transportation of personnel,
equipment and prisoners.
(iv) stretchers, cots, blankets, first aid
equipment.
(v) photographic equipment to document the
action for future reference.
g) Intelligence
(i) Every sources of information must be
cultivated.
(ii) The temper of the community must be
known.
(iii) Rumors must be reported to headquarters
and false rumors should be debunked and the
people reassured.
(iv) Names and description
(v) Factual and opinion data should be collected.
(vi) Time and location of the gathering as well as
the purpose.
(vii) A reasonable estimate of the estimate of the
expected attendance and the identification of
likely antagonistic groups.
h) Strategy to followed.
- Overall strategy should be based on the
precept “contain, isolate, disperse”.
- Special zone from which all unauthorized
vehicular traffic proceed may be excluded.
- The requirement of the situation coupled with
the availability of personal, space, and
equipment will serve as limiting or modifying
factors in the preparation of any plan.
- The innermost area is the critical area
surrounded by isolation zone. The strategy
here is to prevent the curios from joining the
disorderly and thereby contain the existing
situation.
i) Tactics to employ:
(i) Speed and Decisiveness
(ii) Field commander will not use his first
tactics until sufficient force is available.
(iii)Should arrive and form out of the mob’s
sight, to prevent attack by the mob before
they got organized.
(iv) May now issue over the public address
system his proclamation to disperse.
(v) Foot patrol at strategic places will
tactfully and firmly.
(vi) A divided and leaderless mob is a far less
formidable adversary.
(vii) Agitators who are strategically placed
throughout the mob should be identified and
removed as soon as the opportunity to do so
presents itself.
(vii) Specific riot control formations:
1. Squad Line
- Used in a small areas. Usual purpose:
holding formation; to block entrance to a
building; deny area to a crowd; block a street;
clear a crowd out of a confined area.
Commands: Verbal – SQUAD LINE, MOVE! The
command may be given by arm signal.
2. Squad Wedge.
- Generally used as a striking force. It should
not move so far into a crowd as to permit the
crowd to encircle the formation. Command:
SQUAD WEDGE, MOVE! May also given by
arm signal.
- end -
AMPARO, LEO MARK M.