In my 30 yrs of experience, I can't seem to recall anything more serious than occasional, usually domestic, verbal altercations or petty thefts at formally established and managed Red Cross shelters. Most people are remarkably well behaved and cooperative.

It is also important to understand that, in most cases, the American Red Cross is a guest at the facility, too, there to provide certain management and support functions only. They don't own the facility. Typically, there is a pre-incident agreement with the facility's owner, usually a school district or other public entity, allowing the Rd Cross to operate a shelter there under certain specified conditions, and law enforcement is almost always stationed on site, as well. The owner, along with other local authorities, enjoy the lion's share of actual control over many aspects of shelter operations. Its a cooperative arrangement, requiring much diplomacy, tact and negotiation to pull off successfully.

Moreover, the Red Cross is composed largely of unpaid local volunteers of varying experience and ability, so things do sometimes go awry. It does happen from time to time. I've seen cops and other experienced and paid "professionals" go haywire under the stress and fatigue of a major incident, too. The more experienced Red Cross volunteers and paid staff do keep an eye out for the occasional Bozo, but sometimes they are hard to spot in advance. All things considered, they usually do a darn fine job.

Jeff