The police patrol rifle

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 officers in their patrol cars. 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.