The police patrol rifle
| Published date | 01 June 2017 |
| Author | Scott W Phillips,John P Jarvis |
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355717695321 |
| Date | 01 June 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The police patrol rifle: Training standards
in American law enforcement agencies
Scott W Phillips
SUNY, Buffalo State, Buffalo, NY, USA
John P Jarvis
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Quantico, VA, USA
Abstract
This work focuses upon the training associated with patrol rifles in American police agencies. Patrol rifles are the firearms
most commonly employed by tactical units, but are now often carried by police offic ers in their patrol c ars. The
inevitability thesis suggests that arming street-level officers with patrol rifles is part of the natural evolution of firearms
in policing. Officers, however, must be adequately trained. Data were gathered from a broad sample of police agencies
from across the country. Police officers attending the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy in the spring and
summer of 2015 completed a pen and paper survey with questions about police agency training and policies regarding the
use of patrol rifles. In total, 370 usable surveys were completed. Results show that over 95% of American police agencies
allow street-level officers to deploy with patrol rifles. Although training is primarily provided by internal sources, officers
are trained for a variety of situations in which such rifles are necessary and appropriate. A discussion of the veracity of
some training is also provided.
Keywords
Police militarism, patrol rifle, police training, police tactical units, active shooters
Submitted 24 Sep 2016, Revise received 23 Jan 2017, accepted 31 Jan 2017
Introduction
In the past few years, policing in the United States has been
described as ‘more militarized’. There is, however, no clear
conceptualization of what precisely makes the police mili-
tarized (Kraska, 2001). Characterizing the police as being
militarized seems primarily to be associated with appear-
ances. That is, the police loo k like the military. Kraska
(2007) made this assertion with respect to how the police
seem to act or dress. He suggested that the greater police
use of military-style equipment and uniforms, the more
militarized they were. Although this conceptualization of
militarization is insufficient for policy or research pur-
poses, it is sufficient for public opinion. In a 2015 report
by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, it was
asserted that the police response to the public protests in
Ferguson, Missouri was questionable because, among other
things, it assumed a distinct military appearance. The
police use of military-style uniforms, firearms and armored
vehicles ‘inflamed tensions, and created fear among
demonstrators’ (p. XIII).
The Institute for Intergovernmental Research report spe-
cifically indicated that police officers deploying with rifles
as a ‘military-like tactic’ gave the impression that the
police were an occupying force that had invaded
Ferguson’s neighborhoods (2015). Firearms, however, are
nothing new in policing. Police officers in the United States
have been carrying side-arms since the Civil War, with
incremental changes to the caliber and capacity of these
weapons over time. Modern officers carry shotguns in their
Corresponding author:
Scott W Phillips, SUNY, Buffalo State, 1300 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo, NY
13222, USA.
Email: phillisw@buffalostate.edu
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2017, Vol. 19(2) 72–80
ªThe Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355717695321
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