Dialogue and a blue vest: Austin Police Department's latest tools to manage crowd safety

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texans who attended protests at the Capitol this summer were greeted by a new sight: a team of five officers from the Austin Police Department clad in bright blue mesh vests, standing shoulder to shoulder with protesters.  

Led by Commander Lawrence Davis, APD's dialogue policing team has been deployed to protests throughout the spring and summer. But instead of monitors, the team works as facilitators — building relationships with protest organizers to help them safely execute their demonstrations. 

"It's a way to make sure we're hearing the people and to make sure we're able to respond back in a meaningful way," he said. "Dialogue is the simplest de-escalation tool you can have."

According to Davis, APD's dialogue team is the first in the state to use the evidence-based technique to monitor protests. The novel approach represents an attempt by the department to invest in evidence-based policing, after 2020 protests left the city wary of the department's approach to crowd control.

While still in its infancy, Davis said he hopes to expand the team to 30 members — institutionalizing the new technique to change the way APD polices protests for years to come. 

"I hope that that is a permanent fixture in the department, that it's a recognized behavior of law enforcement agencies," he said. "The same way we view, 'We're going to train officers in de-escalation, and we're going to train them in law,' we should be training them in dialogue."

From Sweden to Austin

The 2020 Black Lives Matter protests led to disastrous outcomes for the Austin Police Department. Nearly 30 individuals sued Austin over the use of less-lethal ammunition at communication between police and protesters — costing the city nearly $30 million, according to KUT News. Nineteen officers were indicted after being accused of using excessive force to control protests, although seventeen indictments were later dismissed.

But for Davis, who was part of the 2020 response, the biggest problem was a lack of communication between police and protesters.  

"In real time, we were learning, 'Hey, we serve at the will of the people,'" he said. "We have to be listening to the needs and what the will of people is and be able to be flexible."

The experience led Davis to explore dialogue policing techniques, a strategy that first originated thousands of miles away — in Sweden. 

The Swedish National Police Board introduced dialogue policing in 2004, a strategy that encouraged communication and relationship-building with protesters to more effectively contain crowds. Dr. Clifford Stott, a professor of social psychology at Keele University in England, was the first to bring the technique to the United States. He said that dialogue policing presents a "new way of thinking about crowds" as a collection of logical individuals, rather than an irrational mob.

"Dialogue policing is underpinned by a scientific model of crowd psychology called the elaborated social identity model of crowd behavior, and this is a new way of thinking about crowds based on science and theory, and research," Stott said. 

Working alongside the Columbus Police Department in Ohio, Stott developed the 'Columbus Model' of policing, prioritizing de-escalation through conversation with protesters. Under the model, officers work directly with protesters before, during, and after demonstrations to help coordinate logistics and diminish confrontation. 

"Ultimately, what we're trying to help build here is a policing model that helps prevent circumstances like 2020, where social tensions emerge, that particular ways of policing crowds can amplify problems unnecessarily and lead to circumstances where confrontations occur," he said. 

According to Stott, the technique can help build trust between community members and police officers, leading to benefits beyond a single protest or demonstration. 

"Litigation costs go down, confrontation goes down, improved perceptions of police legitimacy across the community," he said. "All of these things are things that flow from dialogue policing, and one can expect to see when dialogue policing is adopted."

'A very positive response'

Davis attended a training session in Columbus earlier this year — and left feeling like he found a clear solution to the communication breakdown. 

"After attending that training, I was like, 'This is something we could do here in Austin. This is something that we could build on, and it will be great," he said.

CPD Sergeant Kolin Straub, who leads the department's dialogue policing team, described an intense 40-hour, 5-day training that includes examining the social science behind crowd management and various models of crowd control. 

"We spend a full day going through dialogue-based scenarios, talking with people in crowds, how we differentiate different people in crowds, and apply the actual science and the model to practice," Straub said. 

Straub, who pioneered CPD's team alongside Sgt. Steve Dyer said dialogue policing's efficacy can be measured by the limited "use of force and arrest" at protests. But more importantly, he emphasized the importance of forming connections with protesters.

"But the meaningful part, we have relationships with these groups," he added. 

After leaving the training, Davis was quickly put to the test. Just a week after returning from Columbus, APD Chief Lisa Davis called on Davis's 5-man dialogue policing team to help monitor protests at Tesla showrooms. Hundreds of individuals gathered to protest Tesla CEO Elon Musk's role in the Trump administration — but the situation remained peaceful, and no arrests were made. 

"We got positive, a very positive response from the community," Davis said. 

Since this spring's Tesla protests, the dialogue team has also made appearances at the Texas Capitol for June's No Kings Day protest, as well as the protest against ICE presence in the state. 

Although both protests brought thousands of people to the State Capitol, only 22 people were arrested at both events — indicating a successful start to APD's dialogue policing team.

Davis said that he has consistently heard positive feedback from the community, with many protesters stopping to thank him at the No Kings Day and ICE protests. Austinites also flocked to the department's social media page after the No Kings Day protest, with dozens of community members praising the team's work. 

Throughout his experience working in the dialogue policing team, Davis said he is committed to protecting the First Amendment rights of activists to peacefully gather and protest. 

"It doesn’t matter what the person's protesting — I want you to be able to protest," he said.