How emergency response teams access tactical armoured vehicles in Canada
| Published date | 01 December 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557231182298 |
| Author | Zachary Towns,Rosemary Ricciardelli,Kevin Cyr |
| Date | 01 December 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
How emergency response teams access
tactical armoured vehicles in Canada
Zachary Towns
Maritime Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
Rosemary Ricciardelli
Maritime Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
Kevin Cyr
Royal Canadian Mounted Police E Division, Canada
Abstract
As Canadian police services rely on their emergency response teams (ERT) to respond to different calls for service, their
reliance also requires police services to possess the equipment necessary to support their ERT. Since 2004, an ongoing
trend remains that police services procure tactical armoured vehicles (TAVs) for their ERTs. In the current article, we
explore trends in the procurement of TAVs by Canadian police services comparatively, drawing on two distinct data
sets. The first is a content analysis derived from news media and the second is the result of a survey of ERTs across
Canadian police services. Our purpose is to explore different trends in the procurement of TAVs by police services, look-
ing comparatively at secondary sources and primary data to better understand the composition of ERTs, the positioning
of TAVs within tactical policing and shed light on whether some TAVs are procured more often than others. Discussion
centres on the relationship between TAVs and ERT –the need versus desire for TAVs –as well as how policing needs are
interpreted and impacted by calls to defund the police.
Keywords
Police, police tactical teams, emergency response team, tactical armoured vehicle, public safety
Submitted 20 Feb 2023, Revise received 24 May 2023, accepted 30 May 2023
Introduction
Police units with specialized skills and training, such as
police tactical teams, have emerged as a resource for
police services to manage potentially dangerous and high-
risk calls for service such as hostage situations, barricaded
persons, domestic terrorism and sniper situations (Kraska,
2007). In Canada, police tactical units began to form in
Ontario in 1976 and by 1989 there were 15 tactical teams
controlled by the province (Alvaro, 2000). The American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) highlights how police tac-
tical teams were created to deal with hyper-aggressive call
types, but have transcended their original purpose towards
other policing functions such as executing search warrants
(ACLU, 2014). The increase in the dynamic needs of
police tactical teams also increased their equipment needs,
creating a new domain of ‘militarization’, which views
the domestic police as relying on military-style tactics and
Corresponding author:
Zachary Towns, Maritime Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland,
155 Ridge Road, St John’s Newfoundland, A1B 5E7, Canada.
Email: ztowns@mun.ca
Original Research Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2023, Vol. 25(4) 459–472
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/14613557231182298
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