Abstract
Hate groups malign or express hostility toward others whose race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation differ from theirs. Hate groups sometimes hold public rallies to express their views and bring attention to their cause. These events are often volatile and run the risk of becoming violent. They also generate trauma for communities who are targeted by expressions of hate. Policing these public rallies raises numerous challenges, particularly when rival groups with opposing perspectives are present. This chapter explores some of the lessons learned about policing hate rallies from previous events in the United States. Drawing on these lessons, as well as theory and research evidence from criminology and social psychology, the chapter discusses how police can use communication, de-escalation, and other strategies to manage conflict, reduce violence, and minimize harm before, during, and after these events.
Reviewer: Chris Botha
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Notes
- 1.
The terms ingroup and outgroup are used frequently in social psychology to refer to one’s own group (the ingroup) and other people’s groups (outgroups). As noted by Brewer (2007, p. 695), “group-based attitudes, perceptions, and behavior arise from basic cognitive categorization processes that partition the social world into ingroups and outgroups”.
- 2.
For example, van Doorn (2018, p. 321) argues that the goal of anger is “to restore or change the (unjust) situation” whereas the goal of hate is “to hurt or eliminate the hated target”.
- 3.
Left-wing extremist movements are also significantly less violent. For example, according to Sullaway (2016), “right-wing and left-wing extremist groups are not comparable in the degree of risk created for human life … left-wing extremist attacks tend to be directed toward property. In contrast, right-wing extremist attacks are frequently lethal” (p. 97).
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Maguire, E.R. (2023). Policing Hate Rallies. In: Staller, M.S., Koerner, S., Zaiser, B. (eds) Police Conflict Management, Volume I. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41096-3_14
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