An exploration of the use of tactical officers in three Canadian police services

Jenkins, Bryce; Semple, Tori; Bennell, Craig; Huey, Laura

doi:10.1177/0032258x20962833

Cited by 19 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Police and SWAT teams justify these practices by suggesting that risk and threat in society is growing each year, and thus policing with greater tactical use of weapons and strategies is required. In their article on the use of tactical officers in three Canadian police services, Jenkins and colleagues (2020) suggest much the same. Their argument is that regular duty police are not able to respond to most calls that are so-called high risk and that more and more calls involve such risk (p. 2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

SWAT everywhere? A response to Jenkins, Semple, Bennell, and Huey

Walby

2021

The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles

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This paper is a response to an article on public police special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams written by Jenkins and colleagues (2020). Jenkins and colleagues are responding to a study showing that tactical units and members are being used more in Canadian policing. For Jenkins and colleagues, not only are SWAT teams being used properly, but drawing from interviews with tactical members they suggest SWAT teams should be used more in the future. This response focuses on conceptual, methodological, and empirical deficiencies in the work of Jenkins and colleagues. This response shows that Jenkins and colleagues ignore social theory, ignore relevant contrary data, are ignorant of the harms of policing, and are ignorant of the violence that Black and Indigenous peoples face from Canadian police. Relatedly, this response offers a criticism of what is called evidence-based policing scholarship. Using the work of Jenkins and colleagues as an example, the argument here is that evidence-based policing scholars are in a conflict of interest because of how closely they work with police and due to the funding they receive from police agencies and justice ministries. This conflict of interest decreases the credibility and trustworthiness of the claims of evidence-based policing scholars. Overall, this response draws attention not only to the harms of public policing and criminalization, but also to how evidence-based policing scholarship is supporting the expansion of violent, harmful, and regressive forms of social control.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

SWAT everywhere? A response to Jenkins, Semple, Bennell, and Huey

Walby

2021

The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles

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“…Much of the Canadian scholarship on ERTs has focused on the normalization of ERTs in routine policing by tracking their annual deployments (Alvaro, 2000; Kraska, 2007; Roziere and Walby, 2018) Often, researchers highlight how the, arguable, normalization of militarization suggests that ERTs are taking on a more proactive policing role; for instance, executing warrant work, traffic enforcement, community-based policing initiatives, domestic disturbances and even mental health calls (ACLU, 2014; Roziere and Walby, 2018). However, recent scholars such as Jenkins et al (2020) challenge the assumption that police ERTs have become normalized. Rather, the use of ERTs can be expanded to understand that ERTs can be deployed to calls ‘beyond the capabilities of patrol to resolve optimally’, ‘reduce threat to officer and public safety’ or ‘to remove strain on general patrol’, suggesting a shift in resources as opposed to a normalization (Jenkins et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, recent scholars such as Jenkins et al (2020) challenge the assumption that police ERTs have become normalized. Rather, the use of ERTs can be expanded to understand that ERTs can be deployed to calls ‘beyond the capabilities of patrol to resolve optimally’, ‘reduce threat to officer and public safety’ or ‘to remove strain on general patrol’, suggesting a shift in resources as opposed to a normalization (Jenkins et al, 2020). This is a similar approach to that of den Heyer (2014) who also challenges the assumption that an increase in ERT call-outs is not an indication of militarization but rather ‘the rational utilization’ of expensive police resources (den Heyer, 2014: 354).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How emergency response teams access tactical armoured vehicles in Canada

Towns

Ricciardelli

Cyr

2023

International Journal of Police Science & Management

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As Canadian police services rely on their emergency response teams (ERT) to respond to different calls for service, their reliance also requires police services to possess the equipment necessary to support their ERT. Since 2004, an ongoing trend remains that police services procure tactical armoured vehicles (TAVs) for their ERTs. In the current article, we explore trends in the procurement of TAVs by Canadian police services comparatively, drawing on two distinct data sets. The first is a content analysis derived from news media and the second is the result of a survey of ERTs across Canadian police services. Our purpose is to explore different trends in the procurement of TAVs by police services, looking comparatively at secondary sources and primary data to better understand the composition of ERTs, the positioning of TAVs within tactical policing and shed light on whether some TAVs are procured more often than others. Discussion centres on the relationship between TAVs and ERT –the need versus desire for TAVs – as well as how policing needs are interpreted and impacted by calls to defund the police.

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“…Interviews with tactical officers have indicated that they respond primarily to high-risk calls as indicated by the presence of these types of risk-factors (Jenkins et al, 2020;Rojek, 2005). However, we are not aware of studies that have relied on other sources of data to determine whether this is true.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of context in understanding the use of tactical officers: A brief research note

Jenkins

Semple

Bennell

et al. 2021

International Journal of Police Science & Management

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A small body of research suggests that the use of police tactical officers has become normalized in that they now commonly respond to “routine” calls rather than being restricted to high-risk situations. However, this research has tended to rely on crude data (i.e., call type), which fails to account for the context of the calls (e.g., the presence of potential risk factors that might warrant tactical resources). In this brief research note, we sought to expand upon previous literature by examining the risk factors associated with tactical calls in a Canadian police service. We found that various risk factors were present in many of the calls that tactical officers responded to, some of which might be classified as “routine” (suicide threats, well-being checks, domestic disturbances, etc.). The presence of such risk factors highlights the need to consider context when attempting to understand the use (and consequences) of tactical officers. More rigorous tracking of these factors by police services will facilitate such research and inform policies around the use of tactical resources.

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An exploration of the use of tactical officers in three Canadian police services

Cited by 19 publications

References 28 publications

SWAT everywhere? A response to Jenkins, Semple, Bennell, and Huey

SWAT everywhere? A response to Jenkins, Semple, Bennell, and Huey

How emergency response teams access tactical armoured vehicles in Canada

The role of context in understanding the use of tactical officers: A brief research note

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