Citation

White R. Trends Iss. Crime Crim. Justice 2006; 326.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Australian Institute of Criminology)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

One of the key challenges for contemporary policing is how best to weigh up an appropriate and effective use of tactical force when it comes to events and situations featuring large crowds. Coupled with tactical evaluation are issues of community policing and the strategic interests of police in maintaining and enhancing general community relationships. The aim of this paper is to explore the nature of group behaviour and group violence that is essentially spontaneous in nature. One example is the Cronulla riots. Another example is gate crashing. To some extent, these two kinds of events (beach riots and house party invasions) are united in bearing a relationship to the phenomenon of swarming - 'the unexpected gathering of large numbers of people in particular public locales', which may or may not feature violence. This paper considers different kinds of group formation in the public domain - including raves, flash mobs, youth gangs, riots, mobs and gate crashers - and tries to make sense of the different kinds of group behaviour that may emerge. The intent is to stimulate thinking about the complexities of group behaviour generally, in order to further refine and develop intervention tactics and strategies that are relevant to the specific phenomenon in question