Crowd control

Crowd control is the controlling of a crowd, to prevent the outbreak of disorder and prevention of possible riot. Examples are at football matches and when a sale of goods has attracted an excess of customers or refugee control. It calls for gentler tactics than riot control.

Materials such as stanchions, crowd control barriers, fences and decals painted on the ground can be used to direct a crowd. Keeping the crowd comfortable and relaxed is also essential, so things like awnings, cooling fans (in hot weather), and entertainment are sometimes used as well.

Specific products that are used to implement line management and public guidance in high traffic areas include retractable belt systems (which incorporate a stanchion post and the retractable tape) and wall mount systems (also incorporating a retractable belt but are surface mounted). Post and rope systems are also popular, especially in banks and theaters. So far I see the ropes are usually of red velvet ropes like those commonly found in banks, theatres and shopping complexes!

Besides the above crowd control gadgets, barricades are also commonly used as objects or structures that create a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denotes any improvised field fortification, most notably on the city streets during urban warfare.

Pictures of the abovementioned items can be viewed here.