Keele psychology expert advises U.S. police on protest management

A world-leading expert in crowd psychology and public order policing at Keele University is advising police forces in the United States on managing large gatherings, including protests linked to immigration enforcement operations.

Professor Clifford Stott MBE, from Keele’s School of Psychology, is working with police in Portland, the largest city in the state of Oregon, to help advance and develop their approach to the management of protests.

The Portland Police Bureau began rethinking its crowd management strategies following social justice protests in 2020, which escalated into months of civil unrest. During that period, officers used force on protesters more than 6,000 times, and the city later paid out millions of dollars in injury claims and lawsuits.

In June this year, further protests took place in Portland in response to the presence and operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the city and surrounding area. The protests attracted national attention after Donald Trump described the city as “a war zone” during a press conference.

While observing a peaceful demonstration in Portland in October, Professor Stott was exposed to tear gas deployed by federal agents, alongside demonstrators at the scene. His work with city police chiefs has focused on applying crowd science and dialogue-driven policing, helping to reshape public order management in the city in ways intended to be safer and more democratic.

Professor Stott said:

"One of the most important things to recognise is the city has become a site of national contestation and the frontline of the disputes that are emerging between the Federal administration and local governance in the country. I have been working with the city authorities to help manage the consequences.

"Our work occupies a delicate middle ground that both protesters and police tend to value because it helps protect fundamental rights, supports non-violent behaviour, and strengthens local policing legitimacy. Despite some ongoing scepticism within law enforcement, many officers, city leaders and activist groups are increasingly supportive, and the model is gaining momentum.

"With the protests that have taken place, it has presented an opportunity to really test the research-led policing model that we have been working on, that is dialogue-led and facilitation focused, and I think it’s going extremely well overall.

"We're now in a position where at recent protests, the local police force has not acted in amplificatory ways, and it has been able to manage the tensions outside the ICE facility in a way that has not seen those confrontations escalate as they did in 2020. The policing model has played a powerful role in helping to deescalate tensions and avoid the spread of confrontation beyond a very isolated area in the city itself."

Previously, Professor Stott was commissioned by the City of Seattle Office of Inspector General to analyse the policing of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. That work led to a further project with the Columbus Division of Police, and an 18-month secondment to Ohio State University as a visiting professor.

Reflecting on his work, Professor Stott said:

"To find myself in a situation where I can sit down with the mayor, with the Chief of Police, with assistant chiefs, and other senior commanders to think through the problems that they're facing and help them orient strategically and constructive ways to meet those challenges has been incredibly rewarding.

"And to find myself at the top table, having the opportunity to bring Keele research to bear on these critically important decisions at a pivotal time in American democracy, has been some of the most rewarding experiences in my professional career. To see history playing out and be part of that conversation is exciting and meaningful. Universities are here to meet these challenges in our societies and to be invited to participate in this way really does hammer home the significance of the research we have been doing here at Keele."