By Christopher Swope

By now, most of the protesters who descended last weekend on Washington, D.C., have left town, and downtown streets have returned to normal. But as D.C. residents and police sigh with relief that this round of demonstrations went reasonably well, city leaders and police chiefs nationwide should be asking themselves how they will handle the mayhem when the anarchists and anti-globalization gang rolls into their own towns.

If the D.C. protests and the Battle in Seattle last December are any guide, dealing with this motley but well organized crowd is as much a matter of public relations as it is law enforcement. Whatever their varied causes, this particular clique of demonstrators has discovered that using the police as a foil is an effective way to get their point across to the media. Arguably the two most profound outcomes of the Seattle fiasco, after all, were the resignation of Chief Norm Stamper and the fact that many more have now heard of the World Trade Organization.

In D.C., most demonstrators protested peacefully, but they were also sure to push the envelope just far enough to guarantee a steady dose of conflict. At times, it seemed they were demonstrating against the Metropolitan Police Department rather than their ostensible targets, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Of course, this is all to please the cameras, and to put the cops in a classic Catch-22. Most of the time, the police are simply doing their jobs: restoring order to a situation where large crowds of people are purposefully breaking the law and deliberately taunting them. But nobody watching TV sees the lawlessness and defiance that happens just before the nightsticks start flying. All they see is cops dressed like Darth Vader giving someone a beating, and it is hard not to sympathize with the protesters.

To their credit, the D.C. cops did about all they could in this situation: They kept their cool in some incredibly tense situations, and kept clashes to a minimum. Even while making arrests, the police exchanged smiles and good-natured conversation with some of the protesters. It didn’t hurt that Police Chief Charles Ramsey was out on the front lines himself, personally fielding the protesters’ complaints and making sure that the cameras got pictures of him helping to keep things calm.

To be sure, the D.C. cops were aggressive at times, showing early on that they were not afraid to assert authority. Some might argue they were too aggressive. Saturday evening, they trapped hundreds of people illegally protesting on a city block — including a few tourists and other bystanders — and arrested the whole lot of them. In addition, most of downtown was a police state for days, with as many as 90 blocks closed to traffic. Officers collected a whopping $5 million in overtime for the effort.

Yet, for all the time and money, the D.C. cops achieved a result that they couldn’t afford not to — to avoid another Seattle. Other police departments should study their playbook closely. These protesters have found a formula that works, and no doubt another round of demonstrations — some say the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles is next — is just around the corner.

Christopher Swope is a Governing staff writer.

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