...which the media portrays as something that doesn't matter to a group of population. If the killings happen again, I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes treated as another non-event.
I've been hearing more about flash mobs since the Zimmerman trial, that has been going on for over a year before this.
So I was wondering what should/could be done to deal with mob, and ten on one type attacks.
I emailed a friend from Colorado that is a retired State Police Chief, and asked his opinion on this, and thought I'd share.
As a Retired LEO - a multi-part answer
My experience in basic training with the Maryland State Police (which was double the length of most basic training even today in most local departments) included basic drills and orientation in how we would respond to incidents involving large numbers of people (riots, protests, etc). We had a plan. When we finished an event, it was unlikely the offenders were interested in coming back next weekend for a repeat.
Those basics still apply, probably taught only to the Army's MP's, etc... but have been enhanced by the National Incident Management System (NIMS), taken first from the military and enriched by the California Department of Forestry (???) wherein many agencies work together to manage one incident... be it a fire with 6,000 firefighters or HAZMAT spill. It is a management plan.
A current federal goal is to see all State and local police and firefighters given orientations in NIMS so that when they go to another jurisdiction they know what to expect when helping. I taught courses on the subject in El Paso County, Colorado. They are well prepared. But over 9,000 retired general officers live in that county and they don't expect police to watch crime.
More basically, 99% of incidents are relatively small can be handled with a local force, perhaps with assists from adjacent agencies.
The most disturbing trends I've seen are when police respond in great numbers and stand and watch. That encourages repeat offenses as in the next night or the next week.
When I worked on the east coast there were major riots in Baltimore and Washington. In Baltimore we had the good fortune of streets bordered by row houses or commercial buildings. We had A PLAN to block one end of the street, order dispersal three times (per the law), then close the other end of the street and arrest everyone who remained. They had no escape as residents and store managers usually had hardened fronts with no large windows to smash.
Then we saw the L.A. riots where mobs could escape easily through/between stand alone residences. LAPD admitted they had not had experience in such events for over 20 years, didn't teach it or practice it anymore, and none of the SGT's and Lt's working had any experience with it. They were also staffed at about 30% of what the force should have been. It took 4 or 5 days to restore order.
In D.C., the MPDC were an excellent force until Johnson became president. He appointed a political hack and incompetent x-NYPD LT as chief of police, who responded to the first riot scene after MLK was killed. The police were in the process of cleaning it up -- would have made a few hundred arrests. The boob stopped them (well disciplined, they obeyed). Told them to stand at the end of the street in a "show of force". It took 10 days and the army to re-take the neighborhood. Subsequently, under the same boob, criminal background checks on police applicants were stopped so he could modify the racial make-up of the police. They are still recovering from that.
The British police in recent decades have been restrained by the liberal governments; i.e., with the philosophy that the rioters are poor, disadvantaged people who need to be free to express themselves. The police are well trained and well disciplined there and have great plans. The problem is the policy. Note hundreds of violent rioters burning buildings and throwing fire bombs and paint bombs at the police... with the result being only a dozen arrests.
That does not prevent crime.
"The flash mobs here are just the beginning."
The
police need to lead in these situations, but will more likely defer to the city managers... at whose pleasure they serve, and follow the british model, citing that as the precent.
They should be:
a. Monitoring the social networks to know when the events are to occur, and then
b. Respond with overwhelming force to lock up all the participants... and the prosecutors then
c. Need to prosecute the offenders.
d. Store managers need training in how to notify police promptly with a code word(s) when the events are developing.
This is not a difficult task, but lacking leadership the events will become more frequent and more violent.