Civil disorder is a broad term that is typically used by law enforcement to describe forms of disturbance when many people are involved and are set upon a common aim . Civil disorder has many causes , including large-scale criminal conspiracy , socio-economic factors ( unemployment , poverty ) , hostility between racial and ethnic groups and outrage over perceived moral and legal transgressions . Examples of well-known civil disorders and riots are the poll tax riots in the United Kingdom in 1990 ; the 1992 Los Angeles riots in which 53 people died ; the 2008 Greek riots after a 15-year-old boy was fatally shot by police ; and the 2010 Thai political protests in Bangkok during which 91 people died . Such behavior is only hazardous for those directly involved as participants or those controlling the disturbance or those indirectly involved as passers-by or shopkeepers for example . For the great majority , staying out of the way of the disturbance eliminates the hazard
2010 Thai political protests
2010 Thai political protests
Anthropogenic hazard