Riot Narrative and Response:

On April 1st 2013 the City of Rochester, NY passed legislation stating that any person that was pulled over for another offence and was thought to be in the United States illegally had to provide documentation to the contrary or be arrested. Shortly after the bill was passed a group of about two hundred protesters who were outside of city hall started to throw items at nearby police. Despite calls for the crowd to disperse, the main body of protesters headed down main street destroying business and property along the way, causing damage in excess for one million dollars. After a full recall of the Rochester Police department was done, police faced the protestor and dispersed them using force. The entire incident lasted approximately 4 hours.

Mitigation of Riots

Riots are defined as a group of people that rise up in anger and lash out against society over a multitude of issues. To understand why this incident in Rochester occurred we have to look at the facts and where the issue derived from. With recent immigration bill legislation passed the added issue of unrest occurred as well. This was not originally foreseen but perhaps that was due to the fact that we did not have a proper view point of those people that it affected. The very first thing that should have been done to mitigate this riot is to get with local civic leaders for those groups that it affected and get there take on the issue as well as to explain that though protest is certainly there right, violence will not be tolerated. It should be explained that violence will not help their cause but will only demonize them further in the eyes of society. Further any damage that is done will be done in their own city and community which hurts them as well as their neighbor’s. Mitigating damage utilizing civic leaders is part of the overall strategy.

The second step that should be taken is to have all emergency response personnel on standby and have strong police presence to deter the riot from starting. Since it is in the nature of riots that the bigger they are the more people are inclined to join because the risk of them getting arrested is decreased, it is important to try to prevent them in the first place. A strong police presence isn’t not only a strong deterrent to prevent a riot but also allows a quick response if that riot occurs. It is important to attempt to disperse the crowd early in a riot to stop the unrest from growing.

Once a riot has started a quick and efficient recall of all identified emergency response personal on standby should be conducted. Additional resources should be requested from neighboring jurisdictions and/or communities to ensure that manpower and equipment do not become an issue. In a riot situation the reasons previously stated it can be better to error on the side of caution when requesting assistance due to the fact of the quick spread of the unrest and resulting damage that can be caused by not properly being prepared. The first strategy that should be used to if a riot starts is one of containment. Containing the spread of the riot allows for the reduction of damage as well as the responders to start to that the initiative and control the situation. Once the unrest is contained a push by police should be used to disperse the crowd. The bigger the police presence the better as the goal is to reduce the injury to officers and show determination to the rioters. Though often times force will be utilized it is important not to overdo it as it that will only feed the unrest and the police need to be viewed as the force of order and justice.

It is equally important to have on hand the proper equipment for dealing with a riot. Some of this