Usually, when front-facing a riot, officers slowly walk in a line parallel to the riot's front, extending to both its ends, as they noisily and simultaneously march and beat their shields with their batons, to cause fear and psychological effects on the crowd.

The favoured Imperial tactic against a long demonstration march is to attack it at several points and chop it into segments, rather than to merely try to block it at its front end. This way smaller groups can be isolated and dealt with, allowing redeployment of officers to more pressing areas. By stripping crowds and marches of their mass the end result is a weakening of resolve. A large mass can be easily carried away by its own sense of power and size, a smaller body is far more likely to react or attempt violence.

If a crowd does turn violent the Governor may authorise action, at which point officers will engage leading elements of the crowd in order to force dispersion. If non-lethal this will involve gas grenades, stun rounds, and any other non fatal means of causing disruption. If lethal then officers will be authorised to open fire with live rounds and use more indiscriminate weaponry such as fragmentation grenades or neurological weaponry.