What is Crowd Care and what is their role?

Simply put, Crowd Care is a team that is part of the organizing group, with the specific task of ensuring that a demonstration or public event unfolds according to the organizers' intentions. Crowd Carers are often recognizable by brightly colored vests or something simple like an armband. They are there to support the organizers and participants—and they are not accountable to the police or local authorities.

Crowd Care focuses on de-escalation whenever possible, helps ensure that guidelines (such as Covid measures) are followed, assists participants, and keeps an overview of the crowd size. Team members stay in close contact with first aid, the police liaison, media spokesperson, and the rest of the organizing team.

How many Crowd Carers does my protest need?

That depends on the number of participants and the size of the demonstration area. Other factors may include the potential presence of counter-demonstrators or expected strong reactions from the public. So the exact number varies from one demonstration or event to another—there’s no fixed formula.

Sometimes, the police or local authorities may demand a specific ratio, such as 10% of your expected turnout. (But that becomes unrealistic if you're expecting, say, 50,000 people.)

Our recommendation: aim for at least six Crowd Carers as a minimum crew, even for smaller actions.

How to form the team?

Crowd Carers are best paired up in teams of two. Ideally, they should be people who know and trust each other. Try to make the Crowd Care team as diverse as possible to reflect a broad cross-section of society. Since de-escalation and providing information are your key tasks, you want a team with a wide range of perspectives. The team should not be too young or inexperienced, nor should it consist only of tough individuals. If there are people with backgrounds in social work or healthcare, it’s a good idea to prioritize them as Crowd Carers.

Communication

It’s helpful to equip the Crowd Care team with walkie-talkies, including earpieces. These can be rented from event rental companies. A group chat for Crowd Care is also an option, but group chats can quickly become overwhelming, and Crowd Carers may be too busy with the demonstration to keep an eye on their phones.

Some guidelines for internal communication via walkie-talkie:

• Communication should be brief and to the point: concise and not panicked.
• Always state who you are, your location, and briefly explain what’s happening.
• Avoid causing unnecessary panic through poor communication.
• It’s helpful if one person in the pair handles communication while the other takes inventory (gathers the information to be communicated). Don’t try to do both things at once.

“Karin for the organization, I’m at the library left of the square, the police want us off the sidewalk, please advise.”

Example of what not to do:
“Yeah...yeah...move...there, here, something’s going on, police...sidewalk...we need to leave now!”

Especially when communicating with first aid, it’s crucial to avoid causing panic.

Don’t shout: “We need first aid now!” Instead, calmly and clearly state who you are, where you are, how many casualties there are, and what their condition is.

If possible, escort the injured person(s) out of the demonstration, ask participants to keep their distance, and find a quiet spot. If it’s not possible to move the injured person(s), keep bystanders away. The last thing casualties need is a large group of people crowding around them trying to figure out what’s going on. Calm the injured person and wait together until first aid arrives to take over. If necessary, ask a participant to help with moving the injured person or assisting with the situation.

Provide clear instructions in advance

If there are people in your team who aren’t familiar with using walkie-talkies, send out instructions well in advance via email and ensure there’s time to practice. Clearly state where and when people should return the walkie-talkies and make a list of everyone who has received one, along with their contact numbers.

What does a Crowd Carer carry?

Those responsible for organizing Crowd Care must ensure/check that each Crowd Carer has the following items with them during the demonstration or event:

• A vest or something else that clearly identifies them as part of the organization.
• A list of important phone numbers and a working phone with a fully charged battery.
• If it’s a moving demonstration: a map of the route.
• If it’s a static event: an A4 sheet with the program and an overview map of the event area, clearly marking where the stage, toilets, first aid station, and catering are located. This allows you to inform participants if they have any questions.

Other things to consider:
Make sure Crowd Carers are always provided with food and drinks. Especially on hot days, it’s important to keep your team well-hydrated. People busy with tasks may forget they’ve been in the sun for hours. Be mindful of the weather: on sunny days, sunscreen is important for those who need it. The same applies to umbrellas or raincoats in case of rain. Take good care of your volunteers!

Preparations and briefing

Send your entire team a clear email with all the information they need.

If possible, a preparatory meeting with most of the Crowd Carers is recommended. In this meeting, you can go over the most likely scenarios and collectively decide how to respond.

Finally, about an hour before the demonstration or event begins, give a briefing where you go over all the important points with everyone in the Crowd Care team. You can then pair people up and distribute the necessary materials. It works best in a quiet spot close to the demonstration, where you can also offer coffee, tea, and some snacks.

Do not send your Crowd Care team out with incomplete information or at the last minute. Make clear agreements on how to respond to potential situations.

Important: This is not the time for lengthy "what if" discussions with the entire team. Take the lead and stick to giving clear instructions rather than engaging in a discussion. Ideally, you’ve already had these discussions and made decisions beforehand. Close with a pep talk that will ensure everyone heads out onto the streets feeling confident and ready.

Dealing with police violence

Your Crowd Carers are not an extension of the police! They are part of the organization and belong to the demonstration or event. The police may try to use the Crowd Carers for police duties, but try to avoid this, as it could place your volunteers in a situation where they are opposing their fellow demonstrators, and that’s something you don’t want. If the police give instructions to the Crowd Care team, direct them to the organization or the police spokesperson. Don’t let your Crowd Care team make decisions under pressure from the police. (This isn’t always easy. The police can be very good at applying pressure, but try to use this as your baseline.)

If there’s an attack by riot police (ME), it’s not the role of Crowd Care to stand between the riot police and the demonstrators. They are not trained for this, and it puts them and the participants in danger. It can also cause confusion about the role of Crowd Care, and you don’t want to send the wrong message to your own demonstrators/participants by "choosing sides." Your main task at that moment is to inform the organization via the walkie-talkie or phone, and focus on the safety of yourself and the participants by warning them about potential actions from the riot police or police.

The same applies when dealing with participants who do things that you, as an organization, do not want in your demonstration, or who get into conflicts with each other. As Crowd Care, you can address people about their behavior, but you don’t have "police language." Calmly approach people, maintain an open and listening attitude, and ensure it doesn’t escalate. Don’t engage in an argument, but explain the purpose of the demonstration and what methods the organization wants to use (e.g., peaceful protest). You can also ask people to leave the demonstration if you feel there’s a disagreement over the goals or methods. If people refuse to listen or become aggressive, prioritize the safety of yourself, the volunteers, and other participants. Keep in mind that your responsibility is not limitless: you can’t solve everything.

Counter demonstrations

Unfortunately, it’s increasingly necessary to consider disruptions from far-right groups such as Identitarian Resistance, Voorpost, Right in Resistance, and other similar organizations. They may simply be present as an irritation factor, provoke, or even physically attack people. The task of the Crowd Care team is to monitor whether these groups are manifesting and to report this to the organization. The best approach is to brief one or two pairs with the latest information about possible threats and assign them the sole task of: keeping an eye out and focusing on what is happening outside the demonstration/event.

When seeing counter-demonstrators, these pairs must immediately contact the organization and consult about the desired action at that moment. Ideally, you will have already thought about and made decisions regarding this beforehand! Ensure it is clear who will make the decision in such cases. For example: ignore provocations, inform the police, shield the demonstration, or remove the counter-demonstrators if the police refuse to intervene or if it’s clear the counter-demonstrators will use violence.

Be sure to only assign tasks to volunteers that they have been trained for!
Again, the safety of the Crowd Care team and the demonstration participants should be the top priority. Ensure clear communication and a solid plan from the organization. As an organization, it’s advisable to contact groups like the local AFA (Anti-Fascist Action), Laat Ze Niet Lopen, or the anti-racist research institute Kafka beforehand to stay informed.

Stage tasks

Debriefing & evaluation

Debriefing is different from evaluating. Debriefing happens on-site, once everything is over. It’s a moment to briefly reflect on the day. Do this in a quiet place away from the hustle and bustle of the demonstration. If you have a large team, split the group into smaller groups of no more than 6 people. Give everyone a few questions to reflect on, such as: what went well, what could have been better, and were there things that affected you emotionally? Especially if a significant event occurred, it’s crucial to come together and give everyone the chance to express themselves. It’s also the moment to celebrate success and thank everyone for their efforts. And just as importantly: to collect all the materials back.

A true evaluation is better done at a later time. It’s helpful to set a date for it in advance. Make sure there are a few days between the actual day and the evaluation, so everything has time to settle. But don’t wait too long for the evaluation, because after 1-2 weeks, you may have forgotten the most important points.

Notes

As an organization, collect contact details from your Crowd Care team before the demonstration or event begins. This is useful for sending a thank-you note, but also for follow-up care if something has occurred. It’s also helpful because you can more easily find people next time to ask them to volunteer again.

During the demonstration/event, make sure to regularly show your appreciation to the team. A round of applause from the stage works wonders.