The Command and Control and Miami Models at the 2004 Republican National Convention: New Forms of Policing Protests

Abstract

With the increase in large contentious demonstrations in the last decade has come a variety of new efforts to explain the tactics used by police. Based on an analysis of how the New York Police Department (NYPD) handled six demonstrations at the 2004 Republican National Convention (RNC), this article argues that the more repressive Miami model of policing has not become the universal norm in policing large protests. Each of the six protests was dealt with in a unique way, though a general pattern emerged in which the police used either the "soft hat" command and control model or the "hard hat" Miami model. This suggests that local police forces make decisions about how to police demonstrations independent of influence by federal officials or national trends. It also emphasizes the importance of local political context in investigating the motivations of police action at protests.