ABSTRACT
This chapter uses a survey of police officers in attendance at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy to understand the current state of policing in relation to various aspects of police militarization. Survey items explored the agency policies and types of equipment in policing that are commonly associated with militarization. Framed within Institutional Theory, questions also examined whether there have been any changes in these areas of policing because of the increased public and political attention to the issue of police militarization. A benefit of using the National Academy for data collection is that officers are employed in police agencies from across the United States, and they work in agencies ranging from very small to very large. This provides a comprehensive understanding of the issue in American policing.
