Civil Unrest Resources

This page was created by the Hometown Emergency Preparedness Ad hoc Committee (HEPAC) to provide municipal leaders with resources to help them mitigate, prepare for and respond to civil unrest.

Best Practices for Policing Protests

The NYU School of Law's Policing Project has developed new guidance on how to police demonstrations while protecting public safety and democratic freedoms. Download this set of materials on best practices for policing demonstrations. Drawing from social science and importantly – learned experiences of policing leaders themselves – it outlines how policing agencies can and should strike the balance between protecting public safety and protecting democratic freedoms.

Divided Community Project

The DCP’s initial focus was to transform the insights and lessons of dispute resolution interveners into tangible principles, guidelines, and suggestions that local public officials and community leaders could immediately deploy to strengthen their capacity to meet challenges that may lead to civil unrest. Resources they offer include The Bridge Initiative, which provides mediation assistance and training for local governments facing potential civil unrest or other community conflicts, and an online toolkit organized by user group.

Civil Unrest in Annapolis

This PowerPoint presentation from the 2018 MML Summer Conference was delivered by Annapolis' Office of Emergency Management. The presentation covers key concepts like what distinguishes civil protest from civil disobedience, protest continuum, the importance of policies and procedures, and the role social media plays in both information gathering and response planning.

Seattle, WA Social Unrest Page

The City of Seattle has been ground zero for public protests - peaceful and violent - going back to anti-Chinese protests in the 1880s and labor unrest in the 1910s. So, it should come as no surprise that the City offers one of the more detailed and helpful websites when it comes to understanding the nature of social unrest with links to related documents like emergency management planning documents and public guidance.