Promoting peaceful protests is an ongoing process that depends on police-community partnership, preparation, and reflection. This report presents practical strategies for community protest organizers and law enforcement to promote peaceful demonstrations, with an emphasis on the role of community engagement, community partnerships, and police tactics. These strategies are not a one-size-fits-all approach and should be adapted to suit local contexts.

Practical Guidance for Ensuring Peaceful Protests

Key Considerations for Law Enforcement and Protest Organizers

Dionne Barnes-Proby, Samuel Peterson, Alexandra Mendoza-Graf, Amanda Charbonneau, Ishita Ghai, Shona Olalere Oluwatola

ResearchPublished Jan 22, 2026

Protest dynamics and outcomes can be influenced by many stakeholders — including local government agencies, law enforcement, community groups and members, and media — and external issues (e.g., an acute event that sparks protests both within and outside the community). In this report, the authors focus specifically on considerations for how law enforcement and community stakeholders can prepare for, engage in, and process the aftereffects of protest events. This report presents strategies about how to improve processes before, during, and after protests to contribute to more-desirable outcomes. Promoting peaceful protests is an ongoing process that depends on partnership, preparation, and reflection. By applying the strategies outlined in this report and maintaining dialogue even in difficult moments, communities and law enforcement can work together to uphold both public safety and the rights of peaceful assembly and protest. Police-community engagement is not a one-size-fits-all approach and should be adapted to suit local contexts.

Key Findings

Across the protest continuum — before, during, and after protests — communication, preparation, tactical patience, and ongoing collaboration are crucial in promoting peaceful demonstrations and protests

  • Systemic integration of planning, decisionmaking, and reflection can meaningfully reduce tension, improve safety, and strengthen trust between communities and those tasked with maintaining public order.

Before protests, collaborative planning, clear communication, and shared understanding of expectations are the foundation for effective preparation

  • The establishment of communication channels, training in legal and safety procedures, and early identification of liaisons and support personnel enable greater readiness and minimize the likelihood of misunderstandings once demonstrations begin.
  • Building these frameworks before protest events provides flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances.

During protest events, it is important to emphasize proportionality, patience, and transparency

  • Maintaining open lines of communication and employing de-escalation approaches can help protest organizers and law enforcement manage uncertainty and address the evolving dynamics of the crowd.
  • Deciding when not to act as much as when to act emerged as key for minimizing escalation. Differentiated and targeted responses that focus on specific behaviors rather than entire crowds reinforce public confidence.

After protests, structured learning, reflection, and healing are essential

  • Hot washes, after action reviews, and community-driven debriefings provide opportunities to examine what worked, identify improvement areas, and translate lessons learned into policy changes.
  • Such activities offer a venue for dialogue, healing, and positive change, all of which allow community members and law enforcement to process experiences and strengthen relationships that can sustain future peace and preparedness.

Recommendations

  • Law enforcement and community stakeholders should be able to recognize the protest continuum (the interrelated stages of pre-, during-, and post-event planning and response) and describe how actions at each stage influence outcomes and safety.
  • Law enforcement and community stakeholders should be able to explain the importance of proactive, continuous, and transparent communication and demonstrate strategies for overcommunication to minimize misunderstandings and tension between groups.
  • Law enforcement and community stakeholders should be able to apply principles of tactical patience and de-escalation to avoid unnecessary use of force or confrontation and to preserve safety and lawful expression.
  • Law enforcement and community stakeholders should be able to demonstrate the value of redundancy and flexibility by identifying contingency strategies for changing conditions, expectations, or actors.
  • Law enforcement and community stakeholders should be able to build and sustain relationships of trust through ongoing engagement, collaboration, and shared understanding between community stakeholders and law enforcement.
  • Law enforcement and community stakeholders should be able to reflect on lessons learned from prior protest experiences to strengthen future policies, preparedness, and collaborative capacity.

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Barnes-Proby, Dionne, Samuel Peterson, Alexandra Mendoza-Graf, Amanda Charbonneau, Ishita Ghai, and Shona Olalere Oluwatola, Practical Guidance for Ensuring Peaceful Protests: Key Considerations for Law Enforcement and Protest Organizers. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4218-1.html.
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This research was funded by the National Institute of Justice and conducted by the Infrastructure and Justice Program of RAND Education, Employment, and Infrastructure.

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