Policing Public Disorder: Theory and Practice

Citation

Hartung, E.J. (2008), "Policing Public Disorder: Theory and Practice", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 523-525. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510810895858

The topic of public order is often debated in political situations. As a society we are interested in maintaining the status quo and keeping public disorder to a minimum. Policing is one of the most important criteria with regard to the orderly functioning of government. The concept of policing public disorder is crucial to understanding legal and political structure in the world. In his book, Policing Public Disorder: Theory and Practice, David P. Waddington extends his reputation as a leading expert in the field of policing public disorder.

Waddington's research of the relationship between policing and society in the UK is well documented. In 1992 Waddington provided a comparative and historical approach to the subject of public disorder and brought much needed clarification to the key contemporary issues in public disorder in his book, Contemporary Issues in Public Disorder. In his present book, he provides a review and critique of relevant theory and then applies theoretical models to several recent examples of public disorder in the UK and the USA. The theme of his current work is “that police methods implemented, not only during but also in the build‐up to disorder, are pivotal to its instigation and development”.

His current work aids the practitioner in understanding the causes and management of public disorder by drawing on social scientific studies of collective behavior, theories of riot processes, the elaborated social identity model, as well as his own “flashpoints model” of public disorder. The author's style of the use of case studies and original data quickly engages the reader in application of theory to everyday situations. His highly readable style and the use of tables and diagrams enable the reader to process theoretical concepts easily. He not only describes them but also notes strengths and weaknesses of the theories and critiques various theoretical approaches to public disorder. In particular, he applies the “flash‐points” model, dealing with “the inequalities of power, material resources and life chances between different groups in society which form the objective basis of conflict,” to the case studies. He presents this model for the purpose of explaining that public disorder is most likely to occur where a group perceives that its rights are being denied or violated. By integrating six interdependent levels of analysis (structural, political/ideological, cultural, contextual, situational, and interactional), he attempts to apply his model to predict how and when protest events turn into riots, which becomes the point of departure for discussing policing these types of situations.

Professionals in the discipline are aware of the “variable and complicated” nature of policing public order. Therefore, it is realistic to place the theories about policing public order on a continuum. Waddington discusses the shift from the Western policing styles of “escalated force” predominately used in the 1960s and 1970s towards the present day use of “negotiation and restraint”. The author declares that most members of crowds are rational not irrational and prone to manipulation as described in the escalated force concept. Using this basic tenet, he draws on a wide range of recent case studies from the UK and the USA to provide evidence of “significant” changes in methods used by various policing agencies when dealing with public disorder. In his viewpoint “methods of policing public order … . have undergone significant transformation”. He states on page 34 that “uncompromising police tactics and strategies for managing public order have given way to a ‘negotiated management’ style, emphasizing prevention and accommodation”. He expresses the view that in today's world more emphasis is placed on police accountability and the prevailing relationship between the political elements in society.

Waddington uses case studies to compare and contrast the conditions in which police responses to public disorder have escalated or diluted the potentially explosive situations. He attempts to illustrate specific instances in which police interventions or the lack thereof have enhanced or reduced the potential for increasing confrontation between the police and the public. One set of case studies are in a chapter entitled, American Urban Riots, 1991‐2001, in which he specifically uses the Mount Pleasant Riot, Washington, DC in May 1991 as an example of a commodity riot which “generally involved attacks by black ghetto dwellers on white‐owned properties and symbols of police authority”. He differentiates these from a communal riot which typically occurred at the turn of the twentieth century. A communal riot “typically involves conflict between rival ethnic groups over contested areas of territory”. However, he describes the Crown Heights riot of August 1991 in New York City as an example of a communal riot wherein inaction on the part of police resulted in complains by the public. Waddington then uses the Los Angeles riot of April 1992 as a hybrid example of the commodity and communal riot. Historically, police responses to both communal and commodity riots have been to escalate the situation and control the actions of the rioters by the use of force and arrests. These police tactics have results in complaints by the public of the use of “racial profiling” to clean up the blighted urban areas. There is no indication in the literature if there has been or should be different responses to the different types of riots. As a result of increased media coverage and scrutiny by the public, police entities have developed departmental guidelines when dealing with instances of public disorder. Increasingly, police strategies are moving away from use of force to negotiating a peaceful resolution to improve their image and to dilute potentially violent situations. Any time a police tactical unit is deployed to quell a riot there is a risk of serious injury or possible death to the police officers as well as the rioters. The media and public reaction to the utilization of negotiation versus tactical assault is positive and creates more trust between the public and the police.

Waddington compares a similar pattern of rioting in Britain during the same time period. He concludes that “perceptions of police indifference or neglect are the main distinguishing feature between the British disturbances and their American counterparts”. He presents evidence to support the concept that the British public disorders were not quieted by the police escalation strategies. Through the use of case studies, Waddington provides an interesting and focused explanation as well as an evaluation of contemporary police methods for dealing with public disorder in both countries.

The author discusses the concept of “anti‐globalization protest” in terms of summit meetings of global countries and institutions. In a table he provides an excellent summary of the major anti‐globalization protests, 1999‐2006. This table is very useful to the professional as it provides a thumbnail description of the event and the police strategies used. Waddington does not categorize these protests in as being communal or commodity in nature.

Waddington's research has been applied only to cases in the “developed world” and has not been used to analyze policing public order outside of North American and Europe. Would the “negotiated management” style be feasible in areas of the world where there is little incentive for restraint on the part of the police? In less developed countries there is continued use of paramilitary tactics and strategies. Understanding the policing of public order or disorder worldwide requires knowledge of the social, economic, and political conditions of the local area as well as the specific forms of protest in said area. How do “the police” interface with the general public in nations were the police are considered to be an institution of the nation‐state?

Overall, Waddington's book significantly organizes the body of knowledge previously available on the topic of policing public disorder. Through his use of case studies, he provides examples of theory and strategies used by law enforcement agencies in the USA and the UK.