Tactical Training for Frontline Officers

Mandatory tactical training for frontline officers is relevant to law enforcement today because of the rising potential that frontline officers will be faced with incidents that suddenly turn violent. Over the past 40 years, there have been numerous critical events that have brought about positive changes in the way agencies train, respond and purchase equipment in order to be better prepared. Although this trend is helping, as a profession, the training in techniques of basic tactical response for the frontline officers has fallen behind. The purpose of this research is to bring awareness that all frontline officers should be receiving tactical training and supplied with the equipment to handle incidents that suddenly become violent. Tactical training should be a vital component of every agency’s field training program and the tactical training should continue throughout an officer’s career. Expecting an untrained officer to use sound tactics and make proper decisions in sudden violent incidents will eventually prove costly to the departments and the communities involved. In American society today, it has become much too common to turn on the evening news and learn of a tragedy that has occurred in the law enforcement community. As proved through research, this is not a new problem and information was easily found by reviewing articles, internet sites, and through personal interviews. Tactical training for frontline officers is a topic that should be examined closer in an effort to reduce the number of lives lost