Estimated 500,000 protested in Washington

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Seeker
But well never know, because we can't even get a guess within the nearest 100 000.

You could put a lower limit by looking at some photographs. A quick check - count the number of people in a small area and extrapolate to the size of area the march covered.

Not sure that is how they would do an official estimate, but it would give a fairly decent ballpark figure.

[The Mad Monk]

The guy in the dark glasses and hat in Par4's photo looks like a narc.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin Not sure that is how they would do an official estimate,

That is exactly how PDs make official estimates.

[DanS]

If protests are supposed to be a measure of popular discontent, shouldn't there be some way of getting estimates, maybe the Department of Transportation?

Yes, that's the Park Police. I haven't seen a figure from them yet.

The Park Police's figures are generally much lower than what the organizers believe. Some of the criticisms of the Park Police might be fair (like when they measure the # of people during the day), but mostly these organizations vastly overestimate the # of people there. This is because (1) it's politically convenient to do so; and (2) it always looks like you have many more people than you actually do.

"You could put a lower limit by looking at some photographs. A quick check - count the number of people in a small area and extrapolate to the size of area the march covered."

Basically, the Park Police knows how many people fit (on average) in a certain amount of space. Times it by the area and you have a good number. This is the National Mall and standard city streets, so it's quite easy to do comparisons.

[Shi Huangdi]

Here is an article on the issue of how many were there. Apparently estimates range from 30,000 to 500,000

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12060-2003Jan18.html

[TCO]

Tens of thousands = 500,000?

Try to read what you post, Sava!

Or just try to read.