Kettling (Referred to by police as corralling or containment) is the crowd control tactic of surrounding a group of protesters and containing them for an extended period. Like boiling water contained within a kettle, police claim that kettling contains volatile elements of a crowd so that they cannot harm anyone or damage property. In practice, it provokes confrontations, allowing police to use greater violence against the crowd.

A use of force continuum (sometimes use of force “guidelines”, “matrix” or “model”) is the standard used by a police force to determine how much violence is appropriate in different situations.

Suppressing political demonstrations has been a key function of the police since their founding. Crowd control strategies have evolved over time, and understanding the different approaches police can take will assist activists in overcoming them.