How to Control a Crowd

How to Control a Crowd

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Writing by Sam Denby and Tristan Purdy
Editing by Alexander Williard
Animation led by Josh Sherrington
Sound by Graham Haerther
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster

[1] https://www.jstor.org/stable/24943180?searchText=crowd+crush&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dcrowd%2Bcrush&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A630ec3e0255adb39223035178c8acb7e&seq=3
[2] https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/24943180.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A2ff86b7f932f400bca1b78c81ec91a42&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&origin=&initiator=&acceptTC=1
[3] https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/20418/Neville_2020_GPIR_sharedsocial_VoR_CCBY.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y
[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2021/what-happened-astroworld-travis-scott/

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43 Responses

  1. Michael Mayhem says:

    The key to good crowd control is partying with a strong tank that knows when to taunt or use his other abilities while as a dps you’re focusing your fire correctly.

  2. Rothryn says:

    As a German, when I hear crowd crushes I’ll always be reminded of the 2010 Loveparade desaster with 650 people injured (some quite severely) and 21 people dying from being crushed in a narrow tunnel that was the sole entry AND exit to the festival, because the venue was full and people wanted to get in.

    • ThisIsWideAngle says:

      The area where the love parade actually took place wasn´t full at all. The problem started with that the concept didn´t work on how people arriving at the area will move away from the entry-ramp so it backed up onto the ramp.
      When that happened police took over crowd control and made the misguided decision to shut off the flow from the middle of the ramp towards the end of the ramp and then didn´t notice how the pressure from incoming people from the tunnel made the situation critical.
      All that happened during the shift change of the police which added to the chaos and unawareness and the last draw might even have been the police vehicle bringing the next shift to the ramp, driving through the already compacted crowd of collapsing people.

      In the end it was for sure the bad design of the entrence/exit through the ramp and tunnels, which was even worsend on that day by the police making the tight design even more tight with closing off an area for their vehicles and then the lack off awareness, breaking down communications and horrific decision-making by the police.

    • Kaito Cross | KFP Betriebsratsvorsitzender says:

      I’m surprised that this wasnt mentioned in the video.

    • Tami says:

      ​@Kaito Cross | KFP Betriebsratsvorsitzendersame

    • Adriano Parmigiano says:

      @Kaito Cross | KFP Betriebsratsvorsitzender Cause he is just talking about the last decade

  3. Jacob MacDonagh says:

    The identity point I think perfectly describes how British people act towards each other on vacation. At home surrounded by other Brits, we barely acknowledge strangers and keep to ourselves but as soon as we are on vacation, anyone British in your hotel you immediately strike up conversation with cus there’s this sense of camaraderie

    • AzureWolf says:

      Well that’s how it is in rural areas too, not many people so you have to deal and interact with them.

    • The Gael says:

      ​@AzureWolfthe very reason the countryside is a nice place to live and city’s are hell holes

    • Jacob MacDonagh says:

      @AzureWolf Yes of course, I more mean that when Brits are on vacation they will strike up conversation with other Brits for no reason or necessity when at home we are so avoidant of interacting with one another

    • AzureWolf says:

      @Jacob MacDonagh and it’s very rare to find one so it feels like it’s just you and them

    • AzureWolf says:

      @The Gael yeah, cities are so dense and expensive. The only reason most people are in one is because it’s industrialized and has lots of amenities. Rural areas wouldn’t be rural if they were like that.

  4. Will P says:

    With your citation of new research on crowd psychology questioning the idea that people become dehumanized parts of a collective in a crowd, it’d be interesting to revisit your riot control video that claims that exact thing, or it’d be similarly interesting to see something on why might riots still happen according to this research!

    • Fractured Unity says:

      The situation changes when there is violence introduced to the equation. A protest is fine and respectful, but tit-followed by a disproportionate tat from the police can lead to panic, because personal safety is now at stake. The more threatening the police and the less united the protesters, the higher the likelihood.

    • nade says:

      that why police training at riots has to be really good because all it takes is one disproportionately forceful thing and people get scared or aggressive, even if riot police are there to protect the protestors too

  5. Michael S. says:

    As a Cincinnati native, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Who Concert was mentioned. I grew up hearing about that event (I think my parents may have actually been there) and so knew about the horrors of crowd crushes since I was pretty young. Even to this day, at least of the folks around my parent’s age, unassigned seating is looked at with apprehension in the city.

    • Dave Andrew says:

      I went to many concerts at Riverfront Coliseum during the ’70s. That venue was an accident waiting to happen. I’d been in line there and been able to raise both feet off the ground without falling due to the crush. Had the concert been a week later, I would have been on school break and been there. I saw the Who many years later a few weeks after John Entwistle’s death. Pete was awesome, and we could tell that they really felt the loss. They were a mixture of brilliance and tragedy. It’s pretty remarkable that any of them are still alive.

    • Bryan Hann says:

      WKRP taught by his.

    • Allen says:

      I remember that night. Heard about it on the breaking news as the concert was going on. My stepmom was there and I remember hoping that she wasn’t one of the deceased we were hearing about.

    • Repent and believe in Jesus Christ says:

      Repent to Jesus Christ “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
      ‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬
      J

    • Jay Smith says:

      I hear dehumanizing crush, I think of the Spence bridge. Good lord is that a disaster at all but 2:30 in the morning.

  6. Brannon says:

    I was in the middle of the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle, and the conclusions spoken in this video are very accurate. When the police dispersed the crowd, the yells of, “DO NOT RUN!” from the crowd, despite being trapped between a hail of rubber bullets/shotgun beanbags and a cloud of tear gas that was fired over our heads, was the only thing that saved people from injury. The police created a situation that could have been pure panic, but the civilians in the streets were the ones who showed restraint and allowed everyone to escape safely.

  7. HammerTh says:

    The most awesome crowd control I’ve ever witnessed myself was when an emergency vehicle needed to pass through a climate protest. It was like Moses parting the Red Sea.

  8. Matthew Cantrell says:

    When the choke point moved back and caused 2400 to die heading to the Hajj, that feels weirdly familiar to anyone who has tried to fix traffic in Cities Skylines.

    You fixed one choke point, but now it just reveals the next bottle neck. Except crowd control planners find that out with body bags instead of red areas on a screen.

  9. Simo D'lo Mafuxwana says:

    I started attending rugby games at Cape Town Stadium this year. I didn’t really understand why security would force us to use the gates close to our section. In my mind, I thought I could just walk to the section once I was inside the yard (the area surrounding but still within the stadium complex). This video helped me understand the significance of what initially seemed like a minor, unnecessary inconvenience. It also made me appreciate the good design of Cape Town Stadium. For example, after you pass through the gates, you encounter a huge open space and only have to walk a few meters before reaching the stadium itself. The layout allows for fairly easy movement, even when people are standing around on a big match day.

    • Roccondil says:

      Similarly, I went to a concert where the venue used completely separate doors for GA and Assigned Seating. The main doors were all for the assigned seats, while the GA ticketholders had to use a door on the opposite side of the venue. This way, security could easily route GA directly and quickly to the open floor area while everyone else could meander to their assigned seats after getting a pre-show beer.

    • Evenfisher01 says:

      Also alot of stadiums open up at least an hour and a half ahead of time so there isnt a huge number of people still waiting to get in at game time

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