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How to Stop a Riot

Wendover Productions · 5.2M views · 2017-08-29 · 10:18

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Overview

Wendover Productions explains counterintuitive riot control techniques based on research, showing that effective tactics tend to avoid violence.

On Hacker News

Cited for its research-based principles of riot control, and as an analogy for managing other crowd dynamics like bubbles.

Recommended by 1 HN people across 1 months · HN mentions 2018–2020

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What people said

lathiat · 2020-07 · Recommendation

Wendover Productions made great video coverage on "How to Stop a Riot" based on the research: [VIDEO] Unsurprisingly some of the techniques required are a little counter-intuitive which is interesting when weighed into public opinion or uninformed politicians etc. Naturally, the most effective techniques techniques don't involve violence.

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tomschlick · 2020-08 · Reference

> rock-throwing protesters versus police officers wearing body armor and gas masks, carrying ballistic shields and lobbing flash grenades. So regular riot control equipment in 95% of the world... The only other stuff they mention are semi-auto rifles which are not militarization. Us civilians have the same rifles which are way more accurate than a standard handgun. I dont want an officer using a handgun at 50-100 yards trying to stop an active shooter, I want them to have the best tool for the job which would be a patrol rifle. That's safer for everyone, especially bystanders. > My police department should not be anywhere near militarized. It's inappropriate, wrong, and is a waste of funds because they should not be kitted out that way. How is riot control pads / shields and an armored vehicle to stop bullets and rocks being thrown militarization? I don't see any offensive weapons used other than crowd control agents which last I checked are used in most of the world for the same purpose. They also still use fire hoses in many other countries which we stopped doing in the 60s due to the bad optics of them during the racial tension. > They bring out those vehicles during protests, among other things. Judging how the protests have turned to riots over the past few months in major cities, they are completely justified in doing so. Getting rocks, molotov cocktails and everything else under the sun thrown at you when you're trying to stop people from burning down communities would

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shirakawasuna · 2020-08 · Reference

> So regular riot control equipment in 95% of the world... Yes, militarization of the police is normalized in many countries. That doesn't make it acceptable. They're trigger-happy and violent. It's part of the culture. > The only other stuff they mention are semi-auto rifles which are not militarization. Us civilians have the same rifles which are way more accurate than a standard handgun. I dont want an officer using a handgun at 50-100 yards trying to stop an active shooter, I want them to have the best tool for the job which would be a patrol rifle. That's safer for everyone, especially bystanders. Do you believe that there needs to be a line of officers wielding rifles behind a line of riot cops with flashbangs and tear gas launchers (used liberally and indiscriminately) behind a line of shielded riot cops grabbing things from protesters and generally trying to provoke a reaction? These things all work in tandem, in this context. That line of cops is part of their show of force, as they take anti-cop protests very personally. It's a form of intimidation and escalation. > How is riot control pads / shields and an armored vehicle to stop bullets and rocks being thrown militarization? Half of that is literally military equipment and US police departments are frequently under a "warrior" mindset. It's been heavily exported to various different PDs. They treat confrontations as a fight between them and the "bad guys", not public safety or law enforcement. Having a bunch of mi

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Sources

Video by Wendover Productions, played through YouTube.

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