Policy Text
TRAINING
BULLETIN
Date of Issue / Revision
29 Aug 23
Index Number: III-G
Alpha Index: Crowd Control and
Crowd Management
Evaluation Coordinator: SOS Commander
Automatic Revision Cycle: 3 Years
“Department Training Bulletins shall be used to advise members of current police techniques and
procedures and shall constitute official policy.”
OPD Crowd Control and Crowd Management Policy
The purpose of this Training Bulletin is to set forth policy and procedures regarding crowd control
and crowd management.
I. POLICY
The Oakland Police Department crowd management and crowd control policy is to
Apply the appropriate level of direction and control to protect life, property, and vital facilities;
Maintain public peace and order; and
Uphold constitutional rights of free speech and assembly while relying on the mini- mum use of physical force and authority requ ired to address a crowd management or
crowd control issue.
II. DEFINITIONS
A. Crowd Management
Crowd management is defined as techniques used to manage lawful public assemblies
before, during, and after an event for the purpose of maintaining the event's lawful
status. Crowd management can be accomplished in part through coordination with
event planners and group leaders, permit monitoring, and past event critiques.
B. Crowd Control
Crowd control is defined as those techniques used to address unlawful public assemblies, including a display of formid able numbers of police officers, crowd
containment, dispersal tactic s, and arrest procedures.
C. First Amendment Activities
First Amendment activities include all forms of speech and expressive conduct used to
convey ideas and/or information, express grievances, or otherwise communicate with
others and include both verbal and non-verbal expression.
Common First Amendment activities include, but are not limited to, speeches, demonstrations, vigils, picketing, distributio n of literature, displaying banners or signs,
use of puppets to convey a message, str eet theater, and other artistic forms of
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expression. All these activities involve the freedom of speech, association, and
assembly and the right to petition the government, as guaranteed by the United States
Constitution (First Amendment) and the Califo rnia Constitution (Article 1, Sections 2
& 3.)
All persons have the right to march, demonstrate, protest, rally, or perform other activities protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the
California Constitution.
The government may impose reasonable restri ctions on the time, place, or manner of
protected speech, provided the restrictions are justified without reference to the content of the regulated speech, that they are narrowly tailored to serve a significant
governmental interest, and that they leave open ample alternative channels for
communication of the information.
D. Demonstration
Demonstration is used generically in this Training Bulletin to include a wide range of
First Amendment activities which require, or which may require, police traffic control,
crowd management, crowd control, crowd dispersal, or enforcement actions in a crowd
situation.
As used in this Training Bulletin, the term, demonstration, means a public display of a group's or individual's feeling(s) toward a person(s), idea, cause, etc. and includes, but
is not limited to, marches, protests, student walk-outs, assemblies, and sit-ins. Such
events and activities usually attract a cr owd of persons including participants,
onlookers, observers, media, and other persons who may disagree with the point of
view of the activity.
E. Crowd Event or Crowd Situation
This Training Bulletin covers all crowd even ts or crowd situations, including sporting
events, festivals, concerts, celebratory crow ds, and demonstrations as defined above.
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
The Oakland Police Department's Crowd Management/Crowd Control Policy consists of
the general principles discussed below.
A. Planning
1. Command staff shall be notified immediately of large or potentially disruptive
demonstrations and/ or crowd events.
2. The Incident Commander shall be responsible for the development of a written
operations plan for known, anticipated, or planned events.
3. Any crowd control Operations Plan that calls for the deployment of chemical
agents or less-lethal speci alty impact munitions (“SIM”, which includes what
Penal Code § 13652 describes as “kinetic energy projectiles”) into the field must be approved by the Chief of Police in advance of that deployment.
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4. The Incident Command System shall be used for managing crowds and acts of
civil disobedience.
5. Internal Affairs personnel and civilian staff shall not be included in any planning,
tactical or strategy component of an anticipated crowd control or management
scenario, other than to help plan for the specific role of IAD functions such
complaint intake and investigations.
6. Ensure there are sufficient Criminal Inve stigation Division (CID) and Internal
Affairs Division (IAD) personnel that are not assigned to uniformed field
assignments where a reasonable possibility of confrontation, force, or subsequent
alleged misconduct or officer involved crimin al complaints may occur, so that they
are available for investigating such allegations.
7. The Incident Commander shall coordinate with the City Attorney’s Office and
County District Attorney’s Office for la rge crowd events and when the Emergency
Operations Center is activated to solicit and ensure information is current regarding but not limited to:
a. Criteria for unlawful assembly.
b. Appropriate penal codes for enfo rcement and arrest criteria.
c. Appropriate Oakland Municipal Codes for enforcement and arrest criteria.
d. Legal updates regarding force, search and seizure and arrest.
The Chief of Police can direct the Incident Commander to coordinate with the City
Attorney’s Office