Setting Up Crowd Control Barricades

Whether you’re a small business preparing to deal with seasonal crowds or in charge of holding a large event, crowd control measures have to be put in place.

One of the simplest ways to manage crowds is through the use of crowd control barricades. These take the form of steel, plastic, or rope barricades that keep crowds focused to certain areas. Choosing and setting up these types of barricades is a relatively painless process, and we’re here to make it even easier.

There are a few different types of barricade options you can choose from, and they all have their pros and cons. Tape Posts are easy to set up, adjust, and use, making them an economical option. Tape posts allow for easy belt extension, making it a very customizable crowd control solution. Ropes & Chains come with a better design aesthetic, and rope in particular is very durable. The issue with both of these options is that crowds can duck under or step over these barricades. If you’re trying to protect crowds from bigger hazards such as traffic, a steel barrier may serve you better, but keep in mind they’re expensive and difficult to transport.

You’ll want to be sure to set up your crowd control barriers long before your crowds begin to form. It is much harder to organize crowds into an orderly line after they’ve started to arrive than to do it beforehand. If you’re setting up crowd control for a business you may even be able to leave it out continuously.

When setting up your barricades you want to be sure there are clear entrance and exit points. You  may choose to do this with signage or staff posted along the barricade. Ideally, you’d do both. People waiting in line are likely to become irritable and anxious. Having staff to monitor the line means there are people available to answer questions and step in if need be.

For safety reasons, we also recommend setting up your crowd control posts in a configuration that eliminates the dangers of crowd crush. By setting up crowd control barriers in the shape of an S or multiple rows, you limit the possibility of injury. By doing this, you can prevent people in the back of line from pushing forwards.

These simple steps will help to keep your crowds organized and safe.

Do You Need Crowd Control At Your Wedding?

Crowd control isn’t often in the front of your mind when you are planning a wedding. It’s all about the food, the DJ, the decorations…but having the right crowd control is actually extremely important. What’s even better is that it does not have to be complicated.

Controlling your crowds at your wedding starts very early in the process…with the guest list. Creating your guest list is likely going to be one of the first things you do. The amount of people you plan to invite influences your catering, venue, chair rental, and more.

So, once it’s time to invite your guests, there’s a few things you need to make sure you do. Be specific when addressing your invitations. This means indicating if your attendee may bring a guest or not. This means giving specific names, versus generic ones such as “The Smith Family.” This way you know exactly how many people you are inviting.

The next step for crowd control is to handle your RSVPs appropriately. This may involve extra work, but it will really help with the guest list in the end. What you can do is call all of your guests and thank them for RSVPing. At this point confirm the amount of people their RSVP covers. For example, “Thank you for getting back to me Jasmine. I have you marked down for one. I can’t wait to see you.” This eliminates any confusion. As for people who do not RSVP, track them down and get their answers. Trust us, you don’t want to be scrambling to find somewhere for them to sit on your wedding day.

And speaking of seating, if you want to avoid more crowd disasters, be sure to have assigned seating. Open seating, where guests choose what table they want to sit at, is chaotic and causes a lot of awkwardness for your guests. Assigning a table means your guests know exactly where to go and makes the seating process much smoother.

Now if there are areas of your venue you need to keep guests out of, you can do this with some simple crowd control posts. They are a clear indicator that an area should not be entered. This isn’t strictly necessary, but if the venue layout is confusing it can be helpful.

A huge question you have to ask yourself is do you want to hire security? There are some good reasons you may want to shell out the extra cash. Security would be able to deal with wedding crashers, for example. They can also come in handy if conflict arises, which can happen due to arguments and alcohol. You don’t want your big day ruined by a fight!

We know that planning a wedding is stressful, but don’t forget to include crowd control in your wedding plans!

Controlling Inauguration Crowds

Inauguration day is coming up, which means added security and crowd control. This is even truer this year with the many protests planned during and following the inauguration. It is likely you have already heard of the Women’s March on Washington, scheduled for Saturday January 21^st. This march alone is predicted to attract 200,000 protesters, and there’s more groups beyond that.

That makes crowd control for this year’s inauguration particularly difficult. Washington DC is no stranger to protests of course, but the sheer mass of them is going to make crowd control a bit challenging. In addition to the planned peaceful protests, anarchist groups are threatening to disrupt the inauguration as well.

However, police do not seem to foresee much of a problem. There will be thousands of officers working the event to prevent major disruptions and stop any demonstrations from getting out of control. Officers are prepared for mass arrests, despite not believing they will be likely.

Over two dozen protest groups have filed for permits before, after, and during the inauguration. Crowd control barriers will be in place as well as backpack checks. Barriers are also going to be set up to prevent a truck attack. These truck attacks, in which trucks drive into large crowds, have happened across Europe recently and pose a real threat. Barriers could include trucks, buses, and more.

Transportation is also being limited. A fair amount of subway stations as well as roads and bridges will be closed. Not only is this important in terms of safe traffic flow, but it keeps demonstrators safe as well. Members of the National Guard will also be on hand.

To keep crowds contained, protesters are limited to specific locations. With the amount of protest requests coming in, there has been trouble finding enough space to accommodate all of the protesters. Luckily Washington DC is used to dealing with protests, so they have a clear strategy when it comes to this type of event.

Of course the biggest challenge will be managing the Women’s March on Washington. Demonstrators have been organized across many states to travel to Washington for the event. There are expected to be officers and marshals on hand to protect the demonstrators and keep things peaceful. The march is prohibiting any form of weapon, including sticks on signs. There are also no backpacks or other large bags allowed. Planned Parenthood is now also associated with the march, bringing their event planning and security advice in.

With all these forces at play, we are hopeful that inauguration weekend will go smoothly without any major problems, save for the general disruption of the city.