Title: Police - Police and minorities | Britannica
Headings: Police and
minorities

Police and minorities
Crowds and riots
Types of mass events

Content: In democratic countries, political demonstrations have several common features. They generally are structured events, and the courses of marches often are predetermined and negotiated with the police. Political protests that occur in the context of international events—for example, political summits and meetings of global economic bodies such as the World Trade Organization —differ from national or local political protests in one respect that is important for policing: they bring together groups of protesters that may have different aims. Some groups simply may want their message to be heard; others may aim to disrupt the meeting as much as possible. Although the police may come to an understanding with some protesters, others may generate confrontations despite any attempts at negotiations. Thus, a great deal of collective violence may accompany meetings of international bodies, as was the case at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vancouver in 1997; the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in 1999; and the Summit of the Americas in Quebec, the European Union summit in Gothenburg (Sweden), and the Group of Eight (G-8) summit in Genoa (Italy) in 2001.