1.4
Managing crowds
Keywords
Crowd management, public order policing, low-profile
policing
Expertise
The University of Liverpool has played a key role in
obtaining evidence to show that indiscriminate use
of force in crowds is counter-productive with crowds
responding most positively to low-profile policing.
We are now one of the world’s leading centres of scientific
expertise on crowd psychology and public order policing,
and have particular expertise in crowd management
approaches, particularly in relation to international
football matches.
The University’s research provides European police forces
with a solid scientific basis to guide their crowd control
strategies. By recognising that the nature of their own
interactions with crowds exerts a strong influence on
crowd behaviour and on the outcome of initial
disturbances, they can plan strategies to prevent
tensions and disruption.
The Pan European Football Police Training Project
(
PE-FPTP) trains European police forces on best
practice in relation to safety and security at football
matches across Europe, and in tournaments with an
international dimension.
The €1.1 million project delivers world-class
training involving classroom based learning, scenario
exercises, interactive workgroups and field-based
observation. The project delivered training to police
commanders involved in the 2012 European
Championships in Poland and the Ukraine and further
events are planned involving police forces from over
20
different European countries.
The project has been developed in close partnership
with governments, police forces, UEFA, universities
and police academies.
Our research on crowd dynamics also has implications
for theoretical models of social identity, self-categorisation
and stereotyping, and how these relate to social context
and group dynamics. The University is developing
laboratory-based experimental paradigms to test the
relationships between intergroup dynamics and social
conflict as mediated by social psychological processes.
Risk, Safety & Security
118
1.5
Health and safety at work
Keywords
Risk, safety, regulation, death, injury
Expertise
Liverpool’s expertise on health, safety and risk in the
workplace focuses on the protection of employees.
We are particularly involved in two long-term projects.
The first explores the very high risks of serious injury
and death faced by workers and develops new ways of
understanding and responding to this problem. The second
project focuses on how to change the mechanisms of
accountability for deaths and injuries at work.
We have expertise in the analysis of health and safety
policy processes and have gathered a wealth of empirical
quantitative data on trends in law enforcement for safety
offences at work. With this information we are able to
assess the social impact of, and likely trends in
government policy in this field.
Our expertise and knowledge informs policy development
in government, we have provided evidence to
parliamentary inquiries and as a member of expert
groups, have to advise regulatory bodies such as the
Health and Safety Executive. Our research also informs
the policies and campaigns of major trade unions (GMB,
UCAAT and UNITE) and has been widely disseminated by
NGOs such as the Institute of Employment Rights.
Our research findings have supported campaigns by
workers’ and victims’ groups including ‘Hazards’ and
‘
Families Against Corporate Killers’.
