Always Prepared: Police Off-Duty Guns

Abstract

Even while off duty, American police are ex pected to be armed and to actively intervene in situations threatening to life, property, or order. This article considers the assumptions upon which that expectation is based and suggests that they may be ill-founded. Research to determine whether armed off-duty police actually increase community violence levels is recommended as a prerequisite to an in formed reconsideration of the appropriate role for off-duty police officers.