Crisis and Control explains how neoliberal shifts in political and economic systems are transforming the policing of protest, based on a compelling empirical study of police agencies and practices from 1995 until the present. Lesley J. Wood shows that the increasing role of the security and defense industries, professional police associations, anti-terrorism initiatives and the diffusion of 'best practices' amongst policing networks have accelerated the use of less lethal weapons, pre-emptive arrests and barricading strategies against protesters. Crisis and Control uses novel theoretical and methodological approaches and a unique range of empirical data to make an important and radical contribution to a growing field.