D.C. police won’t estimate crowds

“There are no hard numbers on the march size since police stopped actually counting crowds (via overhead photos) a few years ago after they were threatened with a suit. The [L.A. Times] spoke to ‘police sources’ who guessed that there were somewhere between 500,000 and 800,000 protestors, which would make the march [supporting legal abortion] […]

“There are no hard numbers on the march size since police stopped actually counting crowds (via overhead photos) a few years ago after they were threatened with a suit. The [L.A. Times] spoke to ‘police sources’ who guessed that there were somewhere between 500,000 and 800,000 protestors, which would make the march [supporting legal abortion] among the biggest in years.” (Eric Umansky, “Today’s Papers: Demonstrating Your Point”, Slate, Apr. 26). “After the 1995 Million Man March, organizers maintained that at least 1 million men took part. That was more than double what the U.S. Park Police estimated. The organizers threatened to sue. Ultimately, researchers from Boston University, working from photographic images, judged the crowd size at more than 800,000. … After the dispute over the size of the crowd at the Million Man March, the Park Police decided in 1997 that the department no longer would make official estimates.” (“March One Of Largest Mall Events”, Washington Post, Apr. 26).

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