Police Firearms: A Historical Analysis

• In Event: Organizational Change, Reform, and Technology Adoption in Policing

Abstract

The notion that policing has become militarized has drawn attention over the past few years. It is argued that this image is presented through military-style dress and equipment. Police firearms have drawn some attention as part of the debate. For example, police officers working as part of a tactical units are commonly armed with military-style firearms. Yet many police agencies now allow street-level officers to carry these same military-style weapons in their patrol cars. Despite the research into police use-of-force, including justifiable homicide, there is a complete absence of scholarship examining police firearms. This study attempts to explain the evolution of police firearms. The “reactivity hypothesis,” which is a specification of the Danger Threat theory, frames this historical research. Newspaper databases from primarily larger cities were accessed, and various key-words were used to search these sites. A content analysis of newspaper articles demonstrated that, since the Civil War, American police officers had access to firearms. Over time, the police increased the firepower of their weapons in response to their work environment. Still, the information shows that during the early era of policing there was often a flagrant use of weapons by some officers.

Author

• Scott W. Phillips, SUNY Buffalo State