NCJ Number
75246
Date Published
1980
Length
168 pages
Annotation
This report, which followed the deaths of 11 persons on the evening of December 3, 1979, in front of the Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio, presents over 100 recommendations in crowd management.
Abstract
The report was written by members of the Cincinnati City Council's Task Force on Crowd Control and Safety who travelled across the country to confer with facility operators, promoters, performers, law enforcement officials and security personnel. The report recommends specific crowd management techniques covering areas such as drug and alcohol prohibitions and their enforcement, tickets and queueing, contraband screening, and crowd management planning. The report points out the advantages and disadvantages of festival, reserved, and general admission seating and suggests appropriate settings for each. It gives suggestions for funding arrangements for security police at public events and for the training of police personnel. Furthermore, the report urges the National Bureau of Standards to review existing regulations about pedestrian and crowd processing and to initiate new research into changing pedestrian flow patterns as a basis for architectural planning and design for public buildings. Recommendations are also made for emergency planning and preparation, specifically for medical and ambulance services and crowd management techniques. The International Association of Auditorium Managers is urged to develop national crowd management standards. A final section includes recommendations concerning specific existing and proposed laws and guidelines on such topics as general admission seating; the responsibility of the facility or event promoter to cooperate with city personnel in protecting the safety of patrons; safety department rock concert guidelines; major and special events policy proposals; and the provision of public service, such as police, without charge. An appendix contains correspondence and reference material. (Author abstract modified.)