From ‘control’ to ‘design’: Haryana IPS officer OP Singh calls for new science of crowd engineering

Chandigarh: Crowds have long been viewed as a difficult challenge for policing and governance.

A new book by senior Haryana IPS officer O P Singh argues that in a rapidly changing society, the traditional approach of “crowd control” must evolve into what he terms crowd engineering — a science of designing constructive, participatory gatherings.

Titled Crowd Engineering: From Control to the New Science of Collective Behaviour, the upcoming book proposes that governments and institutions should see crowds not simply as problems to be dispersed, but as expressions of energy that can be channelled towards social trust and civic legitimacy.

"Suppression disperses a crowd for an hour. Design builds legitimacy for years," Singh, recipient of the President’s Police Medal for distinguished service, told PTI, describing the philosophy behind his work.

A DGP-rank officer presently serving as Director General of Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau (HSNCB), Singh also launched a podcast series recently aimed at bringing citizens closer to the frontline of the state's battle against drugs.

The book begins with the question of why human beings gather.

Singh notes that assembly is a natural and historical behaviour, rooted in identity, solidarity, celebration, and expression.

“A democratic society must understand crowds as a social reality and develop tools to engage them constructively,” he writes.

Singh observes that in a young and digitally connected population, gatherings can form more quickly and spread more widely than in earlier times.

“The speed of communication and mobilisation today means that governance frameworks need new tools alongside traditional ones,” he says.

The book also looks outward, drawing lessons from global experiences — from community movements in Asia to civic demonstrations in Europe and America — arguing that while contexts differ, the underlying patterns of collective behaviour remain comparable.

At the heart of 'crowd engineering' is the proposition that crowds are designable. Singh introduces a framework he calls HARMONY: Honour, Aspiration, Ritual, Memory, Order in Synchrony, Narrative, and Joy.

“When these elements are consciously supported, crowds can create legitimacy and pride. When ignored, they can produce confrontation,” he notes.

Drawing on his tenure in Haryana, Singh highlights three initiatives: Sports scholarship programme attracted children, parents, and teachers because it conferred dignity and recognition.

District marathons inspired mass participation, turning territorial pride into collective synchrony and dissolving social divides.

'Raahgiri' brought officials blamed for revelling in "majestic aloofness" and citizens together in shared spaces of recreation, fostering trust through periodic inclusion.

Each, he argues, was a “designed crowd” that channelled energy into constructive outcomes.

The book’s most significant proposal is for crowd engineering to be established as an independent field of study.

Singh suggests that universities and research institutions can integrate perspectives from history, psychology, political science, anthropology, economics, disaster management, and urban planning to develop actionable insights.

"Imagine if governments maintained a calendar of good crowds — festivals, sporting events, civic rituals — timed and designed to pre-empt volatility by offering constructive participation. That is the promise of crowd engineering," he writes.

"Democracy is not tested only at the ballot box,” Singh says.

"It is tested in the crowd. Crowd engineering can provide the knowledge and practice to convert grievance into aspiration, confrontation into cooperation, and volatility into stability."