ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the results from a snowball sample of police agencies and their use of patrol rifles. It is arguable that these firearms contribute greatly to the notion that the police are militarized. Findings from the survey indicate that patrol rifles are used in different types of law enforcement agencies (e.g., municipal and county), and even smaller sized police agencies (<50 officers) allow patrol officers to deploy with rifles. Most police agencies are shifting away from the more common “shotgun” to allowing street-level officers to deploy with military-style assault rifles. The survey also demonstrates that officers received, on average, 18 hours of training, commonly provided by their own agency or another local agency, and they are retrained, on average, every 6 months. Training is provided primarily for “active shooter” situations.
