A Review of 2024 Mass Demonstrations at U.S. Academic Institutions

During the Spring of 2024, college and university campuses around the United States became focal points for mass demonstrations. Several instances brought national media attention to the complexities of public order policing generally, and on campus and crowd policing specifically.

To identify and understand lessons from these protests and apply them to preparations for future demonstration events, IACP and the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) convened police executives, university administrators, and civil rights leaders to share their perspectives about the demonstrations of 2024 and implications for the future

“Policing Campus Demonstrations” provides an overview of mass demonstrations, observations from the 2024 U.S. campus demonstrations, and considerations for both campus policing agencies and those agencies that may be called to support campuses during demonstrations.  Also included are recommendations and resources for policy, training, and applied tactics before, during, and after demonstrations.

This document is just one of several resources on Crowd Management and Civil Demonstrations available from the IACP.  Revisions to the IACP’s model policy on “Crowd Management and Control” are expected in late 2025.