Why are tactical officers responding to ‘routine’ calls? Using police data to examine the presence of risk factors during seemingly low risk incidents

Abstract

ABSTRACT Previous research has suggested that tactical officers across North America commonly respond to calls characterized as ‘routine,’ which has raised significant concerns. However, most of this research relies on de-contextualized data, such as the broad call category (e.g., domestic), to ascertain the nature of the incidents that receive a response from tactical officers. To provide a more nuanced understanding of these incidents, we were provided access to one year’s worth of operational data from the Winnipeg Police Service and conducted a content analysis on incidents that received a response from tactical officers (n = 1652). Overall, we found that the primary role of tactical officers was responding to high-risk calls in which violence (n = 599) and weapons (n = 820) were reported. Furthermore, our findings highlight that the initial call type is not a reliable indicator of the risk posed to public or officer safety.