Essential Ingredients to Working with Campus Protests and Demonstrations

Recent months have provided many campus law enforcement and security administrators with an added challenge in providing for the safety and welfare of their campus communities. The "Occupy Wall Street" (OWS) movement, which began on September 17, 2011 in New York City, was numerous protests against economic inequality, record rates of unemployment, social injustice, and corporate corruption. The protests quickly transcended from parks and public spaces across American cities and onto college and university campuses. Many of these OWS activities are reminiscent of the social and student movements in the 1960s with civil disobedience being at the forefront. However, since the 1960s and 1970s, community policing has not only emerged but has taken hold of how most law enforcement agencies in the United States operate and approach problems, to include demonstrations and protests. This article focuses on community-policing measures and various items that may be of use to campus law enforcement administrators.