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Click here for information on our eLearning version of “Introduction to Crowd Science”
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Legal - letters of reference - click to download a zipped file
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In April 2018 the College of Policing introduced mandatory training in policing events for all Public Order / Public Safety commanders and their advisors.
This new training was developed by working closely with Professor Keith Still and incorporates selected areas from the Manchester Metropolitan University’s Crowd Safety and Risk Analysis master’s programme.
This enabled the training to provide commanders and advisors a full day of crowd science content, giving them knowledge and understanding of key crowd science tools before providing the opportunity to test their learning in bespoke scenarios.
The understanding of crowd science, developed by completing the course, enables commanders and advisors to recognise potential crowd safety issues at the planning stage of an operation, which in turn allows them to highlight any risk and where appropriate put measures in place to mitigate it.
Crucially this training, and the learning standards it sets, comes at a time when policing is reviewing its role at public events.
Police commanders now recognise the importance of critically reviewing the plans of event organisers, and where necessary articulating concerns regarding crowd safety management to other stakeholders in the event licensing process. What they learn from the ‘Events Module’ supports them in that role.
In the months since the ‘Events Module’ was introduced hundreds of police commanders and advisors have successfully passed the four day course, and the feedback from those attending it has been positive.
By April 2019 all strategic, tactical and operational commanders across England and Wales, and those advising them, will have completed this course. UK, College of Policing
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Hello Professor! I just wanted to tell you how much you course in Austria helped me in the last few months! Without a doubt the best decision in my professional life to attempt your course. Its so satisfying to show clients why certain ideas are not feasible, by simply running the numbers and providing them with a model. We couldn't prevent all the bad ideas, but I could keep everyone on their toes with my calculations. I got into heated discussions, and didn't make a lot of friends but it were probably my proudest moments to deliver my arguments by calculating models that couldn't be disputed. Again, thank you very much for providing your expertise. I am looking forward to applying to your courses at MMU.
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We have great respect for the decades you have spent researching and expanding the bounds of crowd science. So many of the enhanced crowd risk analysis techniques used today are from your pioneering work. (NCS4)
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Dear Prof. Still. We would like to take this opportunity to highlight our satisfaction for the outstanding work of the team who took the tight schedule and worked closely with our team to complete the project effectively in a very short time frame. We are absolutely satisfied with the hard work, dedication and proffesionalism the team showed during the project to provide committed services with the committed quality to the client. Even with the time pressure, the quality of their work and the attention to detail was exactly we were looking for. We wish you and your team continued success and hope that in future we can generate more fruitful projects together. Best regards, Onur İlköz Direktör, İş Geliştirme ve Stratejik Planlama. Director, Business Development and Strategic Planning. Sensormatic Güvenlik Hizmetleri A.Ş.
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Thank you so very much for the best 3 days of learning that I have spent in sometime! I also enjoyed the collaboration with my fellow classmates. We need to expand and carry this forward throughout our sports/entertainment profession.
Shannan Tiffin, Captain of Support Services/Emergency Management at Duke University Police Department, found the workshop to be very beneficial. “There is not a lot out there about crowd behavior and psychology,” said Tiffin. “The workshop provided us with a simplified approach to understanding the behaviors of how people act, and ingress and egress from a venue or stadium.” NCS4 course
Rebecca Wilusz, Associate Director of Game Operations & Champion at Duke University Athletics, agrees with Tiffin. “Keith has done a great job of making the information accessible – I have left the workshop with both simple and effective tools to be able to build better plans and train our athletics staff more efficiently. NCS4 course
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"On a personal basis it allowed me to confidently state my case with a client why such safety measures where required. It was a completely new event site and when the ‘Flamming Lips’ came on stage we had a robust crowd management plan in place with crowd spotters deployed. I needed every bit of your course and not sure the outcome if I hadn’t attended, probably, like everyone else, we would have crossed our fingers!" Jonathan Cunningham MBE. Managing Director. STORM Consultancy
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“A fantastic and beneficial course, it was the only course I had ever done where I was upset when it finished, the course provides a unique and mathematical approach to crowd engineering, the consensus of all who attended was that it provided us with the tools and confidence to do our job” Operations Manager. Sydney Opera House
“This course opens your eyes to the potential issues with Mass Gatherings. As well as providing an individual with the tools and knowledge to assess the event plans and proposed mitigation for major events. With the introduction of the Crowd Science Qualification it would be in your best interest to attend. The delivery and information provided is beyond reproach and glad to see the course in Australia!” CEO. Canberra Exhibition Park
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SXSW Music is one of the largest music festivals in the United States, with more than 2,000 performers playing in more than 90 venues. SXSW is the highest revenue-producing event for the Austin (Texas, USA) economy, with an estimated economic impact of $167 million in 2011.
“The City of Austin is host to several mass gatherings that include music festivals, collegiate sporting events, and holiday celebrations. Dr. Still’s Crowd workshops provided tools and insights that will improve my ability to predict potential issues, create plans to address the predicted issues and manage the crowds that these events bring; ultimately creating safer events for our citizens. If you are responsible for the management of large gatherings, I would recommend this workshop for you and your team." Pete DiDonato, Division Chief, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, Austin Texas USA
Prof. Still's workshop gave us valuable, specific, practical information that we could use in many different ways to improve our event. It was presented in a fantastic way using talks, videos, exercises, and discussions that really brought the group together. We had 30 people, half from our organization and half were various City first responders (Fire, Police, EMS). One of the best things that happened was getting to go through two three-day workshops with all of these people that you talk with for maybe 30 minutes at most. The team-building and connections that Prof. Still's workshop offered were worth it on their own. But in addition a whole team of people got the knowledge and the lens through which to view crowd management and engagement in the most beneficial and practical way possible. It was fantastic. Brad Spies (SXSW), Austin, Texas.
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The CSARN team want to say a huge 'thank you' to you for your excellent presentation at this week's CSARN Olympics and Paralympics Security Planning conference on the 31st October 2011 in the City of London kindly hosted by Deloitte. We know that it also takes significant preparation time to prepare tremendous presentations such as yours, and for your contribution to the CSARN network of members we are indeed very grateful. The team all thought your talk included excellent and helpful analysis, and feedback from the event was excellent, significantly influenced by your efforts. As you know CSARN is a not-for-profit business and employers’ group, dedicated to promoting organisational resilience and staff safety across the United Kingdom business communities. (Across the UK some 14,000 companies and staff organisations form part of our network of business leaders.) We would simply not be able to provide our educational and mutual aid networking briefings if it was not for the support of such excellent and experienced speakers. Thank you for your time and efforts as always. With very best wishes, Richard Bingley (CEO). Brett Lovegrove (Director). Tom Hough (Director)
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I was privileged to work with Keith on a 'Perceived Risk' project with regards to injuries to operatives and members of the public for BBUS. The input from Keith regarding peoples general perception to risk was invaluable. His knowledge is extensive and in depth and highlighted important factors that may normally go unidentified. His unique approach, background and theories made for interesting research for myself and led to some 'out of the box' proposals being put forward. Keith was a great inspiration to me as a developing engineer and I have took some aspects of thinking with me into my following roles. Dave Vallender. Civil Engineer at Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions
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"Keith is an inspirational mathematician and is technically brilliant. For somebody to have an idea, pursue it, do a PhD based on that idea, start a company again based on that idea and then do consultancy all around the world because of it, is no short of genius. Hats off to him." Nira Chamberlain CMath FIMA CSci
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"Keith brings a truly unique level of commitment and insight to a subject - crowd dynamics & management - which is increasingly high profile in the events market. Major Event organisers and hosts face increasing regulatory and consumer pressure to deliver properly managed crowds and the safest possible experience for spectators and participants at mass gathering. Keith has worked on many of the World's highest profile mass participation events - from Olympic Games to the Hajj and from major transport terminals to some of the largest music festivals. In each case, he applies immense clarity of thought, advanced mathematical thinking and an ability to explain the most complex crowd modelling to a wide range of stake holder organisations. If you are expecting a crowd, planning a crowd or want to understand what happened to a crowd, there is no-one better to contact. And Keith will always move heaven and earth to give you actionable observations and advice." Ian Horseman Sewell
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'The danger for police commanders in planning and dealing with major events is that we become focussed on one area, normally public order, when in actual fact we should be considering a range of overlapping and inter-related disciplines of which crowd science should be writ large. An awareness of the area should be a prerequisite for those policing events and commanders should be able to recognise risk at events and utilise the available specialists in appropriate circumstances. I can think of one high profile football match in the last year where I was glad issues of crowd science were in my considerations as there was clear potential for a serious incident if the wrong calls had been made. As a consequence in planning for this years Manchester united victory parade one of my first calls was to Keith Still to ensure I had his support in reviewing the issues around crowd science - a previous parade had attracted 250000 fans and there had been a real risk of people getting seriously hurt. In this case Keith's involvement gave me the reassurance that the issues would be recognised and that we could develop the right plans and mitigation measures.' Mark Roberts. Chief Superintendent. Trafford Division. Greater Manchester Police
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"I have had the pleasure of working with Keith Still over the past 5 years and I have enjoyed working with him. He brings a truly unique level of commitment and insight to a subject - crowd dynamics & management - which is increasingly high profile in the events market. His enthusiasm and desire to educate is infectious and he has personally done more for the subject matter of Crowd Science than anyone else I can think of. Major Event organisers and hosts face increasing regulatory and consumer pressure to deliver properly managed crowd s and the safest possible experience for spectators and participants at mass gathering. Keith's skill, expertise and ability to model the most complex systems for clients make the work he is doing invaluable. Keith has worked on many of the World 's highest profile mass participation events - from Olympic Games to the Hajj and from major trans port hubs to some of the largest music festivals. In each case, he applies immense clarity of thought, advanced mathematical thinking and an ability to explain the most complex crowd model ling to a wide range of stake holder organisations. If you, or your organisation need help and advice in dealing with large crowds, or you only want a sounding board to challenge your thinking then I can highly recommend Keith." Jon Wort
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"I would like to express our sincere gratitude for your kind assistance in the Jamarat Bridge Project. The professional level of performance, the clarity of presentation and the solid results supported by scientific evidence were the main element of the success of our undertaking. We also appreciate the time your gave us during your visit to Saudi Arabia to train our staff, a gesture which proved to be of great benefit to all those involved in the project. While we look forward to your next visit to Jeddah for phase III of the project, we wish you a very fruitful future, as weíve seen how your techniques are capable of solving a great number of our planning problems, here in the Middle East, and especially in the Gulf area." Dr. Hisham A. S. Jomah GM Technical advisor for special projects. Urban Development Company, Saudi Arabia
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"Prof. Keith Still is leading specialist in crowd dynamics and crowd management. his lectures were both highly informative and enjoyable. Every time professional opinion were required, Keith did not hesitated in providing quality answers and tips. I could not highly recommend Keith expertise in crowd safety management and crowd science. It is absolute pleasure to know Prof. Keith Still." Lukasz J Nalewaj FdA
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"Professor Keith Still helped me understand sociological and psychology for an assignment on experiencing events that I had to write. I would recommend asking this gentleman anything you are unsure of or can't get your head around especially when they start talking technical terminology. I found this helped me put the whole human behaviour aspect into what I needed to write." Catherine Mercer
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"Prof. Dr. Keith Still has developed a unique method of predicting crowd behaviour enabling event organisers and Police to test crowd management plans to a high degree without the need for large scale stage managed test events. The software he has developed simulates crowd behaviour as it inter acts with the geography of the space they occupy as well as behaviour generated by an action or event. I would urge any organiser, safety, stewarding, security company, or Police service to engage his services." Richard Strudwick M.SEC .I.I.