CRIME CONTROL - D.C.Police Set Precedent In ControlOf Multi-Site Protests,Terror Threats

Sep 29, 2026

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Crime Control reports on Washington’s Metropolitan Police training for managing complex, multi-location demonstrations and terrorism threats in 2002. The article describes planning for protests against multiple international and domestic issues, coordinating security for major federal events, and running realistic drills that include communications failures and role-play provocations. It also summarizes a DOJ-sponsored study of 19.3 million traffic stops in 1999, finding no concrete evidence of racial profiling while noting disparities in stop and search rates.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages9

Reading Time23 min

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CRIME CONTROL

D.C. Police Set Precedent In Control Of Multi-Site Protests, Terror Threats

DOJ Data On 19M Stops Finds No Profiling

Study Cites Forensics Woe In Massachusetts

April 19,2002 Vol.36,No.16 IN THIS ISSUE U.S.Data On 19M StopsFinds No Racial Profiling.…2Massachusetts Has SeriousProblems In Forensics Labs.2Ashcroft Adds Funds,AgentsTo Pedophilia Probes ………3FBI Taps Coordinator To WorkWith State,Local Police….…3White House Identifies SourcesFor Police Terror Training ..3Study On Title V Grants.……3Comment On Meth Use… 3Gay Hate Crimes Fall………4Victims Of Crime Data ….…4Ex-Justice White Dies………4 IN THE COURTS Justices Rule Part Of Child PornLaw Violates Free Speech....4Justices Hear New ArgumentsOn Search Powers…………5Illinois Rules Enhanced GunSentences Are Valid… …5llinois Decides ConfessionAllows Judge To Sentence ...5 LEGISLATION Border Control Bill Passes...6 ACROSS THE STATES Alabama,California,Colorado 6 D.C.,Florida,Kentucky … 7Massachusetts,Ohio…………7Oklahoma,Oregon…………7 # CRIMECONTROL D.C.Police Set Precedent In ControlOf Multi-Site Protests,Terror Threats Washington's Metropolitan Po- lice Department has raised tech- niques for controlling multiple civildemonstrations to a new levelthrough development of a wide-ranging new training discipline. Metropolitan Police get moreopportunity than most of theworld's law enforcement agenciesto deal with massive demonstra-tions,but the latest challenge wasnew even for Washington. Most of the past demonstrationsin the nation's capital have involvedorganizations of up to 400,000 fo-cusing on a single issue or a fewnarrow targets. This time several different or-ganizations planned to protest thewar in the Middle East,globaliza-tion,racism and U.S.support for theColombian government's anti-drugactivities in various locales duringthe same time four-day period. Washington police had to pro-vide security for the annual meet-ings of the World Bank and Interna-tional Monetary Fund that draw fi-nance ministers and other top offi-cials from more than 100 nations,the leaders of the world's sevenlargest industrial countries,the visitof Israeli Prime Minister ArielSharon and a conference of 800 federal judges including SupremeCourt justices. Further complicating the proc-ess since the events of Sept.11 isthe prospect of terrorist actions. Police Chief Charles H.Ramseyput officers through a more rigoroustraining regimen,including bomband terrorist attack drills,to preparefor the multiple tasks involvinglarge crowds with starting points inthree different locations. “A protest in 2002 is a wholenew world compared to a protest in2000,”Ramsey said.“This time,we've got to do all the things we didin 2000 and also realize that theprotesters may be targets for terror-ists." In preparation for the demon-strators,officers had to contendwith and contain shouting and fist-swinging police recruits pretendingto be rowdy protesters—who werethen attacked by terrorists. When a bomb went off,phonelines and police radios went deadand cell phones stopped working. Ramsey said the drills wentwell. Ramsey planned a techniquethat has worked in the past,a mas-sive show of police power that in-timidates potential troublemakers without the necessity of using actualforce. Supplementing the Metropoli-tan Police were 200 members of theNational Guard and 500 officersfrom federal and suburban policeagencies including the U.S.ParkPolice,U.S.Capitol Police,Mary-land and Virginia State Police,U.S.Mint Police and the Secret Service. Ramsey and top police aidesalso walked over the demonstrationroutes looking for potential prob-lems that might face officers in theevent the crowds became unruly. Ramsey activated the Joint Op-erations Command Center severaldays before the first demonstrationwas scheduled and set up camerasto monitor the demonstration routes. DOJ DATA ON 19M STOPSFINDS NO PROFILING A Justice Department-spon-sored study of 19.3 million policestops in 1999 found no concreteevidence of racial profiling althoughofficers stopped older black driversat a higher rate than other drivers. Police stopped older black driv-ers at th

FAQs

How did police drills address communication and emergency-response challenges during high-risk events?

They included bomb and terrorist attack drills designed to test responses when phonelines and police radios go dead and cell phones stop working, alongside crowd-control tasks in multiple locations.

Sep 29, 2026

Upload by Aditya