Chris Cocking

The Press often say ‘riot Police are on alert’ for a demo, but it’s utterly meaningless. There will always be riot police on alert (that’s inherent within their role!). I only saw 2 officers from the TSG (MPS public order unit) in Parliament Square at the protest & they were deployed as advisors

Tsunami reaches Hawaii and California as earthquake off Russia triggers warnings - live updates Two million people are told to evacuate in Japan after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake, one of the strongest ever, hits Russia's eastern coast.

Coverage I've seen so far of #Tsunami shows mercifully little damage and/or casualties. Also reports from #Hawaii of people being 'civilized' & no 'panic' as they evacuate, which fits with most research into mass emergency behaviour
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3...

Nicky Campbell - 23/07/2025 - BBC Sounds Nicky Campbell takes your calls on the day's talking points.

I was interviewed on @bbc5live.bsky.social this morning about the possibility of riots this summer & my clip is from 49.00-51.00 minutes into the following link;
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Briefer interaction than anticipated, so a lot of what I'd intended to say didn't get covered

An article I wrote in 2014 highlighted the Battle of #Orgreave during the UK miners' strike was the 1st large scale example of the British Police adopting tactics used by the colonial Police force in Hong Kong
theconversation.com/how-the-uk-i...

Battle of Orgreave national inquiry confirmed by Yvette Cooper Police violently clashed with striking miners at Orgreave in South Yorkshire on 18 June 1984.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Irrespective of Kneecap's stated political views, it would have been ridiculous to have charged them with incitement to riot after their Glastonbury performance. I explored this further in thread below that I posted previously #Kneecap
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Hundreds take part in protests near asylum hotel in Epping More than 400 people attend demonstrations near a hotel that is being used as migrant accommodation.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Far-right supporters attack police after protest against Essex hotel for asylum seekers Riot police deployed to anti-immigration flashpoint in Epping as far right seek to exploit local tensions

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Danny Pike - 07/07/2025 - BBC Sounds Danny brings you the perfect start to your day in Sussex.

I was interviewed for BBC Radio Sussex today about the 20th anniversary of 7/7 to talk about the research I did with @profjohndrury.bsky.social into the collective resilience of those affected by the explosions. My bit starts at 1.13.30 in link below
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

1/10 On this day 20 years ago, I was with @chriscocking.bsky.social and Steve Reicher at the Royal Society summer exhibition in London, presenting our work on how people behave in emergency evacuations. As I tried to travel to the exhibition venue, I was part of a crowd of

London bombings: I survived 7/7, but still see the suicide bomber everywhere Dan Biddle recalls a bright, white flash as a bomb was detonated just metres away from him on a London Underground train.

'Adrian applied a tourniquet and pinched shut the artery in Dan's thigh to stop him bleeding to death.'

@chriscocking.bsky.social and I found many other examples like this of mutual aid among survivors in our research on this major incident.

@ukri.org funded

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

1) It's nonsense to claim that something said on stage at a festival could incite a riot nearly 2 months later at an entirely different event

2) Riots are complex events that involve escalating group interactions & don't usually start because 1 individual has 'incited' others to start rioting

During Kneecap's set, they called for a riot outside the court on 20/8 when Mo Chara is due to appear, but later said they didn't want people to riot. It would be ridiculous for the Police investigation to conclude that this amounts to incitement to riot for 2 main reasons as follows

Glastonbury: Police launch investigation into Bob Vylan and Kneecap sets It follows performances from both bands on Saturday at the Glastonbury music festival in Somerset.

The decision to investigate these acts illustrates some potentially concerning issues with what Avon & Somerset Police have recorded as a 'public order incident'. I'll stick to what I saw of the Kneecap set via BBC iPlayer, as I didn't see the Bob Vylan set
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘Poor management leads to fatal crushes’: how Glastonbury and others are dealing with big crowds After disasters such as Astroworld and scary bottlenecks at last year’s Glastonbury, Emily Eavis and crowd experts explain how they’re trying to make events safe

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

Notting Hill Carnival has been framed as a disaster waiting to happen. Is it? Plus: the art world embraces Croydon and we reveal the best pre-train tacos

Article below interviewed me about the #NottingHillCarnival in London and why I thought concerns about a mass casualty incident are potentially being exaggerated
www.the-londoner.co.uk/notting-hill...

Military parade rolls through DC as 'No Kings' protesters across US decry Trump The grand military parade that President Donald Trump wanted for eight years has barreled down Constitution Avenue in Washington with tanks, troops and a 21-gun salute.

As someone who works in crowd safety management, I know that it's difficult to accurately estimate crowd size. But from seeing the photos of the event, I can confidently state that claims that >1/4m people attended Trump's military parade is way off the mark! #NoKings
apnews.com/article/trum...

Research that myself & others have done into crowd disorder (eg the August 24 riots) has shown that trying to explain riots in terms of outdated irrationalist models risks obscuring our understanding of such events & more importantly, how to prevent them re-occurring #Ballymena

How a peaceful protest in Ballymena descended into hate-filled violence Why did a peaceful protest in a County Antrim town end up in two nights of attacks on police?

This piece below is the best attempt to explain the #ballymenariots that I have seen yet. The PSNI's reference to 'mob mentality' doesn't adequately explain why people get involved in riots & as @BBCMarkSimpson puts it - 'People do not become racists overnight'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Ballymena: Police to significantly increase officer numbers in Ballymena after 'senseless violence' Six people have been arrested since the disorder began on Monday after a peaceful protest over an alleged sexual assault in the County Antrim town.

The PSNI have now activated a mutual aid request for help from other police forces in the UK, meaning we may see officers from the mainland deployed in NI over the coming days #BallymenaRiots
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c6...

Ballymena: Fireworks thrown at police in second night of disorder Police say a number of homes and businesses were attacked as violence erupted again on Tuesday night.

Rioting in #Ballymena continues for 2nd night, with Police using baton rounds & water cannon. PSNI are currently the only Police force in UK to employ these tactics during public disorder
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Los Angeles protests live: Police order protesters to leave downtown Los Angeles as Trump says 'bring in the troops' As immigration raid protests continue for a third day, Trump - who has already called in the National Guard - says things

Worrying scenes from #LosAngelesProtests and Trump's inflammatory rhetoric ('bring in the troops') is unlikely to help. Most research into riots has shown that in order to de-escalate the situation, it's better to encourage dialogue & understanding between both sides
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...

Los Angeles protests live: National Guard to arrive in LA in 24 hours, as governor calls Trump's move 'inflammatory' The US president says he's sending in 2,000 troops to deal with unrest over raids on undocumented migrants.

Trump's claim that 'paid troublemakers' are behind current disorder in LA is a common myth often used to explain why people get involved in riots. This myth is almost always unfounded & not supported by any credible evidence that I'm aware of #LosAngelesProtests
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...

Los Angeles protests live: National Guard to arrive in LA in 24 hours, as governor calls Trump's move 'inflammatory' The US president says he's sending in 2,000 troops to deal with unrest over raids on undocumented migrants.

Trump's claim that 'paid troublemakers' are behind current disorder in LA is a common myth often used to explain why people get involved in riots. This myth is almost always unfounded & not supported by any credible evidence that I'm aware of #LosAngelesProtests
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...

We don't yet know if the fatality in Dax has anything to do with #ParisRiots relating to PSG victory celebrations. So, this is potentially an example of how all recorded crimes are uncritically linked to disorder happening at the same time. This was also the case during the England 2011 riots

PSG victory parade to go ahead, police say, after more than 190 injured in clashes Hundreds have been arrested across France after PSG's Champions League win, French officials say.

It looks like that there has been significant disorder in Paris after PSG's Champions League victory. Media are reporting there have been 2 deaths related to this & one was a stabbing in Dax in SW France, which is nowhere near Paris. #ParisRiots
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cx...

<em>British Journal of Social Psychology</em> | Wiley Online Library Crowd behaviour in emergencies has previously been explained in terms of either ‘mass panic’ or strength of pre-existing social bonds. The present paper reports results from a study comparing high- v...

Other work I did with @profjohndrury.bsky.social on mass emergencies also found that people co-operate with each other & the idea of selfish 'panic' is a myth. This is shown in the way that #Liverpool has come together after this terrible incident
bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Crowd Flight in Response to Police Dispersal Techniques: A Momentary Lapse of Reason? There has been much debate about the use of certain public order policing tactics in Britain in response to the disorder seen in recent years. This paper explored the use of an indiscriminate public ....

Previous research I have done into crowd flight has shown that while people can scatter in response to threats, they are aware of others' safety as they flee &there's no evidence to support the idea of 'stampedes' where people trample on others that fall
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Liverpool parade latest: Child and adult seriously hurt and dozens more injured after car ploughs into Liverpool crowd Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram cautions against speculation, after 27 people were taken to hospital and 20 others were treated at the scene.

Sad news from #Liverpool yesterday and my thoughts with those affected. But media reports of 'panic' as crowds scatter are misplaced, as fleeing imminent danger is a perfectly sensible & rational response
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn...

Counting bees: Eight years after the Manchester Arena attack How vicarious trauma affects communications professionals, and why we need to talk about it

Thanks to @rubonist.bsky.social for sharing this post from another place.
It’s about PR, but it’s also about everyone involved in response and recovery.
Cc @chriscocking.bsky.social @rcn.org.uk @policechaplain.bsky.social

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