Who’s Policing the Crowd? A Typology of Officers Who Policed the 2011 Stanley Cup Riot

Abstract

Abstract Moving away from high-profile, hard-lined tactics, approaches to crowd policing have become increasingly geared towards softer, negotiation-based policing methods. Despite their perceived benefits, there exist a number of challenges relating to the successful implementation of these low-profile approaches, most notably being the officers themselves. Given the central role officers play in responding to and managing crowd situations, it is important to know what types of officers are actually deployed to police these events. Utilizing survey data collected in the aftermath of the 2011 Stanley Cup riot, this study employed a cluster analysis to examine the similarities and differences amongst the officers who were deployed to police this event. This technique produced two distinct clusters, which were subsequently used to examine the relationship between officer characteristics and orientations towards crowd policing. By providing a possible explanation for the success and/or failure of a particular crowd management strategy, these results may help police departments in their preparations for future crowd events.