Abstract

This article proposes a new theoretical lens for studying protest management by integrating crisis management insights. While protest scholarship has emphasised political influence and frontline police-protester dynamics, the meso-level of command post practices remains underexplored. By drawing on theoretical frameworks and explored variables from protest and crisis management literatures, command posts can be put more into focus. Where traditional protest management studies stress external variables such as protester characteristics or surveillance technologies, crisis management research highlights internal dynamics: cognitive framing, command post structures, and synchronisation technologies. Based on a scoping review of 637 publications, this analysis maps conceptual overlaps between the two literatures and identifies how bridging protest and crisis management scholarship can generate new questions about protest governance at the command level. By showing how protest may be perceived and managed as crisis, the article rethinks responses to dissent and the negotiation of legitimacy in public order.

Keywords: Protest management, crisis management, protest policing, gold commander, protest, crisis

How to Cite:

Van Biervliet, D., (2026) “Rethinking Protest Management: A Crisis Management Lens on Police Command Strategy”, Law & Criminology Journal 3(1), 123-167. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/lcj.96154