Social Determinants of Crime and Hatred Incidents at Mass Sports Events in Poland

Abstract

Crime and hatred have been a permanent part of mass events organized in Poland. The situation is the most difficult in the case of football matches, especially at the national level. Despite legal changes and many measures adopted by sports clubs, the police and other institutions, not only has the situation not changed but there are symptoms of its deterioration. It is extremely worrying that these informal groups form structures that operate following the principles characteristic of organized crime. The subject of study in this article are the phenomena of crime and hatred occurring at mass events organized in Poland; its purpose is to identify the causes and present conclusions regarding necessary actions, based on an analysis of statistics and reports. Methods characteristic of theoretical studies have been employed developing this study, as well as the results of surveys conducted in 2014. The basic research problems involve finding answers to the following questions: –  Did the determination of police in ensuring the safety of the EURO 2012 final tournament calm the mood and improve security of mass events? –  What is the current scale of crime, hooligan acts and collective violations of security and public order in relation to mass events organized in Poland today? –  Are the solutions in this area systemic, durable and consistent?The hypothesis was that, although public security authorities have been implementing a wide range of measures, crime and deep-rooted hatred towards enemy clubs and ideological opponents continue to be a hallmark of football fan circles and thus of some mass events organized in Poland. The inconsistent continuation of good practices adopted in the past, perceiving the problem only in terms of isolated incidents, and the lack of statistics that would help to prepare precise scientific analyses, all require moderation in predicting positive changes in this narrow area of public security.