Police and the Press: Balancing Operational Challenges of Law Enforcement with Protests, First Amendment Rights

With the 2024-25 academic year having already started and the ongoing conflict in the Mideast, it seems inevitable that civil unrest and widespread protests will also continue throughout the country, both on and off campus. This may again include campus encampments, major traffic disruptions and a possible escalation in violent clashes with police. These are all matters of public concern being reported by the press. Whether occurring in traditional public forums (i.e. streets, sidewalks, and parks) or at private schools and universities, journalists will be there exercising their First Amendment protected rights to gather and disseminate news, information, and images. How law enforcement dealt with protestors and the press during the BLM social unrest protests and more recent Israel-Gaza war demonstrations has been the subject of costly litigation, resulting in changes to incident response and policing protests. This presentation for chiefs and senior commanders will deal with all these issues, as well as some of the relevant lawsuit settlement terms and proposed guidelines. It will also address the importance of integrating PIO efforts to meet these operational challenges.