During the early 20th century, police departments in the United States adopted several military innovations such as centralized chains of command, professionalization (training and discipline), military operations and tactics (in particular, colonial counterinsurgency tactics), "open-order" units, and counterinsurgency information-gathering ...

Generally, all law enforcement officers in the United States carry firearms and are armed with pistols at a minimum. There is no consistent recording of firearms use across all states; some bodies, such as the New York Police Department (NYPD), report on firearms discharge.

Military law enforcement, although federal, consists of both military personnel and civilian officers. For example, "DoD Police" refers to any civilian engaged in police duties for the DoD or the US Armed Forces.

May 24, 2019 · Thanks primarily to the Pentagon’s 1033 program, which allows law enforcement agencies to get their hands on Department of Defense technology, and the Bush-era War on Terror, American police have received a startling amount of heavy-duty, military-grade hardware.

Mar 19, 2025 · The Fairfax County, Virginia Police Department did not immediately respond to a query from USA TODAY. Heavily armed police rushed to respond to a "barricade incident" at the headquarters of the ...

Jan 12, 2022 · Police began carrying automatic weapons like the Thompson Submachine Gun and using armored vehicles for the first time. This violent period of history also established the popular belief in the necessity of a heavily armed police force capable of dealing with the most dangerous criminals.

Jan 8, 2015 · Armed with battering rams and machine guns, paramilitary SWAT units are breaking into Americans' homes. How heavily armed are the police? Many small-town police departments now boast the...

May 18, 2015 · Americans have grown used to seeing police respond to protests with tear gas, carrying automatic weapons and sniper rifles, and riding in vehicles that would not look out of place in Baghdad or...

Jan 13, 2021 · In this post, we define police militarization as the influence of military equipment, tactics, and mindset on domestic law enforcement. This phenomenon exists in at least three distinct areas: Adoption of military tactics by law enforcement.

Oct 25, 2023 · From 1966 through the 1990s, high-profile crimes committed with powerful weapons left U.S. law enforcement feeling outgunned, spurring a surge in police militarization that taxpayers often funded.