Riot Control

What Makes a Riot? Mob Mentality - the people making up the "mob" do things they normally would not do because the crowd makes them anonymous; this anonymity, combined with the actions of the rest of the crowd, makes them feel like they can smash, burn or beat whatever and whomever they want.

1992 L.A. Riots On April 29, 1992, a jury announced a not-guilty verdict for four white police officers who were videotaped beating Rodney King, a black man, in Los Angeles, CA.

Firemen could not respond to many of these early fires because snipers were shooting at them. Later police escorts went in with the fire fighters to protect them from the snipers.

Results of the L.A. Riots 54 people killed 2,300 injured 7,000 fires $ 1 billion in damage 12,000 arrests

Riot-control Tactics The tactics used basically consisted of forming a line and charging into the crowd The police were almost always better-armed than the rioters The police try to prevent injuries

Terms in riot control Echelon - a body of troops arranged in a line Command team – Leaders of group Arrest team - group of officers that arrest rioters

Riot-control Technology protective gear –Helmet with face shield –Body armorBody armor –Large body shield

Hard Tac – Body Armor

Body Armor Information Beyond Kevlar Kevlar is by far the most common fiber used to make body armor, but other materials are being developed. The most readily available alternative fiber is called Vectran, which is approximately twice as strong as Kevlar. Vectran is 5 to 10 times stronger than steel. Another rapidly emerging fiber is spider silk. Yes, spider silk. Goats have been genetically engineered to produce the chemical constituents of spider silk, and the resulting material is called Biosteel. A strand of Biosteel can be up to 20 times stronger than an equivalent strand of steel.spiderBiosteel Another candidate is carbon nanotubes, which promise to be even stronger than spider silk. Carbon nanotube thread is still rare, and fabric is even rarer. CNet reports the current price of nanotubes at $500/gram. In time, prices should fall and make carbon nanotubes a viable fiber for body armor.CNet reports

Web link to show how bullet proof jackets work

Weapons of Riot Control Batons –most basic offensive weapon –usually between 24 and 42 inches ( cm) long –Made of hardwood or metal

Weapons of Riot Control Batons are used most of the time instead of rifles because the mere presence of rifles tends to escalate any kind of disturbance, and if the crowd manages to wrest a rifle away from an officer, the results could be tragic.

Weapons of Riot Control Rifles –40-mm gun guns are similar to military grenade launchers grenade launchers either a single-shot launcher or a multi-launcher that can have five or six rounds loaded at once

Single shot rifle – Greater Precision Multi Launcher – Numerous rounds

Weapons of Riot Control non-lethal rounds –Blunt-force rounds These rounds cause pain when they strike, but they don't penetrate the skin Fired at ground so they can skip off ground to hit rioters in legs

Weapons of Riot Control Wood Baton - 40-mm wooden cylinders (long-range and accurate) Rubber Baton - 40-mm rubber cylinders (long-range and accurate) Foam Baton - 40-mm foam cylinders (short range)

Weapons of Riot Control Bean Bag Round - Square-shaped bean bags Sponge Round - Bullet-shaped round with a sponge tip –Loaded with Pepper spray or marker dye

Weapons of Riot Control Stinger rounds - A Stinger round is loaded with small, rubber pellets that disperse on impact. Pepperball rounds – Like paintball rounds, but loaded with pepper spray or water to scare rioters that they are being hit with pepper spray

Weapons of Riot Control Aerosol grenades - These are metal canisters that are activated and thrown like regular grenades Ferret rounds - Ferret rounds are made to penetrate windows or wooden barricades, where they can then deposit a load of gas Gas rounds - These rounds are loaded with a gas that causes severe irritation to the eyes, nose and throat, and even causes contact skin burns in some cases.

Weapons of Riot Control Officers don't like to use gas rounds, because they know they're going to experience some of the effects of the gas themselves. Still, they wear gas masks and goggles to protect themselves in case the need arises.

Weapons of Riot Control Animals – Horses and dogs can used to scare riots and the animals are usually not effected by the gases used by police on rioters

Crowd-control Philosophy: Prevention crowd-management units. Riots usually are tied to planned protests Police contact organizers before the protests –Ground rules to the protest –Police monitor group

Crowd-control Philosophy: Prevention Police mentality –Unbiased attitude Freedoms –“In Charge” –Keep everyone calm in a riot does happen

Crowd-control Philosophy: Conflict intimidation – scare rioters into submission arrest – leaders and those committing crime disperse the crowd - whole point is to get them to run away

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