Police Ready Challenge #2

June 29, 2009

It’s Saturday night and the bars are still open celebrating a big football win. The fans are totally inebriated and getting rowdy, spilling out into the streets to take their celebration outside and down the main thoroughfare. There is a lot of pushing and shoving going on, and arguing over who the MVP of the game happened to be and his stats. A fistfight breaks out and the crowd surges around the two combatants, cheering them on. You are on patrol alone.

What would you do in this situation?

1) Keep on driving, it’s their problem and they’re just drunks.
2) Contact dispatch and ask for assistance and wait until it arrives and then commence crowd control procedures.
3) Wade into the crowd with your baton at the ready and shouting at people to break it up and go home.

Based on your selected option, here are brief descriptions that explains the outcome of each option.

1) Not a good choice, as you have taken an oath to protect and serve the people of your community. It may be just a fistfight between two drunks arguing over a football win, but it could easily escalate into a full-scale riot if not stopped.
2) This is your best option as it protects you and provides other well-trained officers who will be able to disperse a large crowd a lot easier than just one cop. It will also mean extra help in arresting and charging the two combatants for public drunkenness and creating a disturbance.
3) Not a good choice, as wading into a crowd on your own leaves you wide open to possible attack from anyone in the crowd. You have no real sense of the mood of the gathering, and since they are drunk, they could swing any way on the drop of a dime. Always keep your personal safety in mind when working the job.