TACTICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT IN CANADA: AN EXPLORATORY SURVEY OF CANADIAN POLICE AGENCIES By Sam Alvaro Hon. BA A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial FuKllment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario January 2000 CQ000, Sam Alvaro National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington OttawaON KlAûN4 OmwaON K1AW canada canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/£üm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits s~hstantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract The following paper offers a descriptive analysis of baseline data regarding an overlooked trend in Canadian pdicing: the grawth in number and shift in character of police tactical units (PTU's). A suwey of al1 poliœ departments with fifty smwn officers or more provides the first comprehensive national data on PTUs in Canada. Findings document a nse in the nurnbr of PTUs, an esdation in their level of activrty, a norrnalization of these units into mainstream pdicing and a direct link between Canadian and Amencan PTU's as well as the Canadian Amed Forces. These findings are sirnilar to trends in thUnited States suggesting that behind the r)ietoric of democratic refomis such as cdmmunity and problemaiented policing, we are seeing the rise of Tactical Law Enforcement. Main Entry: tac-timcal Pronunciation: Yak-ti-k&l Function: adjective Date: 1570 1 : of or relating to combat tactics: as a (1) : of or occumng at the battlefront <tactical defense* <tactical fint strike* (2) :using or being weapons or forces employed at the balthfront <tactical missil- b of an air force : of, nlating to, or designecl for air attack in close support of friendly ground forces 2 a : of or rslating to tactics: as (1) : of or mlating to small-scak actions serving a Iarger purpose (2) : made or canied out with only a limited or immediate end in view b : adroit in planning or maneuvering to accomplish a purpose tac-ti-cal-ly1-k(&-)El adveib Webster's191 3 Revired Unabridged Diction. y There are so many people that I wish to thank, making it dificuit to knaw where to begin. To al1 the police officers that participated in this project. I thank you for your time and cooperation. Wthout you this project could have never happened. I would like to especially thank Professors Dennis Forces8 and Bruce McFarlane for Ming my advisors on this project. Gentlemen, my hat is off to you. While she was not one of my official advison: without the assistance of Mm. Toni Murray, this project would have never have gotten off the ground. All that I leamed about tenaaty and poise. I leamed fiom you. To Professors Walter Dekeseredy and Craig Mckie, I thank your help in forcing me to focus rny research theoretically and methodologically. but more importantly for Wng fnends. On the subject of friends: Bob. Cos, Peter, Tim, Terry, Ted, John. Nino. Sandra, Silvana. You al1 made the transition for the man from Toronto easier in Ottawa. To Jennifer and my family, thank-you for being there when I needed you and for supporting me during all this and hey, only one more to go. Table of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements il Table of Confun& iii List of Tables v ChapWr One: An Inboducüon fo Tacdical Law Enforcement 1 A Note on Terminoiogy 3 Oelineating WB Poli- from the Military 4 The Concept of Paramilitansm and the Poli- 7 Defining Police Tadical Units 8 Chapfer Two: Theon'zing about Tactical Law Enforcment 14 MilMry Foundrokns of Polking 1s Peel's Twa Traditions 16 Military Influences Upon Canadian Policing 20 Origins of Tacthl Law Enbrwment 24 The Genesis of SWAT 25 The Paramilitary Culture 29 The War Metaphor 33 The Canadian Situation The Significance The Curnnt Statu* of Raseamh Summay ChapW Thnnc MethOdS of lnquity inîo PoHee Tactic.1 Units Oesign and Distinction of th0 Sumy Responsa Chapter Four: Who an, They? Geogmphicrl lnbmmtbn Demogrrphk Inbmutkn Full and Part Tirne Units Police SO~k88 8 T-1 Un& Tactical Unit FWm Personnel Prototypical Tactical Officer 74 Gender 74 Rotation Policies 77 Police Tacticri1 Unib Budm 79 Vearîy Formations 80 Rationale for Formation 83 Summrry 8s Chaphr Five: Hatdo they do? 87 Training 92 Tactical Oogkynnritr 95 Typas of TIcf/c.l DapkyiMiit, 99 Summaty 111 ChapCsr Six: ln& the Next Cenhrry if3 Community Polking 114 Pitfalls and Advantages 117 nie Future of Tadcal Polking 120 Societal Implications 121 References i24 Appendixes 131 List of Tables Table 1: Poke Tactical Units jn Onta& as of 1989 50 Table 2: Breakam of Police Se&s with over 50 Omcets by Province 62 Map 1: Geogmphkaî Localion of Canadan Police Tadical Units 67 Table 3: Populaîbn of Jurisdicbion 69 Table 4: Stafus ofpdics TWcal Units by Pmvince 70 Table 5: Pdice Taciical Unit Demographics by Unit Status 73 Figure 1: Fernale Tactka/ Omcets by Unit Status 76 Table 6: Police Tactka1 Unit Budgets by Unit Stahrs. 1997 79 Figute 2: Annual Fornations of Pdice Tadical Un& Since 1968 82 Figum 3: Rationale Ibr Fomamn of Pd- Tactka1 Units in Canada 84 Figum 4: SeliWon Criteria br T'csGsl Omc8rs 90 Figure 5: Sources of Training Expertise Ibr Pdhfaclical Un& 94 Figure 6: Nalional Average Deploymenb of police? Tadical Unh 19804997 97 Figure 7: Police Tacika1 Unit Deployments by Unit Staîus 19- 1997 98 Figure 8: Canadian Pdice Tscîical Unit Activities, 1997 102 Figum 9: Pmactive Use of Pdîe Tadieal Un& in Canede 105 Figure IO: Canadian Poke Tacîkal Unit Equipment lnventoty j08 Figum 1 1: Comparative Observations of Canadien and Amsrican TamlOeploym8nts - 1 10 Chapter One: An Introduction to Tactical Law Enforcement f he appearance of militaristic, or rather paramilitaristic law enforcement, is not a new phenomenon. Presently, aven as comrnunity policing is king celebrated as a retum to Sir Robert Peel's pdicing principles, the rnilitary character of policing is finding renewed emphasis in Poliœ Tactical Units (PTUS)'. Since development of the Los Angeles Poliœ Department's tactical unit in 1967, the United States has seen an increase in the number of instances of these tactical units being cslled upon to maintain order in their society. Sorne ceses have ended in disaster such as Waco, Ruby Ridge and The Christian Movement for Life. At the same time, albeit to a lesser extent, Canadian saciety was also witness to several widely publicized events involving; police tactical units such as Oka in Quebec (before the situation was turned over to the rnilitary), the Gustafsen Lake stand-off in British Columbia (where multiple Royat Cansdian Mounted Police Emergency Response Teams were deployed to resolve the situation), and in Ontario at lpperwash (where the Ontario Provincial Poliœ Tactics and Rescue Units were called upon to restore order). In a national study of medium to large poliœ departments in the United States, wnducted by Peter Kraska and Victor Kappeler in 1997 it was found that Police Tactical Units have not only grown in numôers but have beaJme 1. Since there are numemus police tactid uniu thu go by a myriad of wues such as: Special Wcapons and Tactics, Emergency Task Force, Tacticai Resarc Unit, Speciaf Emergency Rcsponse Unit, Joint TuL Force, etc.. ., these units, for the purposes of our discussion will al1 bt dled Policc T8ctica.i Units (PTU's). increasingly pro-active (Kraska and Kappeler: 199712. This Amefican study has provoked and acted as a guide to the research presented here. This paper documents the firot comprehensive survey of police tadical units amss Canada. Previous Resrrch and ObJectives While academic literature conceming policing is vast. the realm of scholarly work conceming tactical policing is not. We will review the body of knowledge surrounding Police Tactical lJnits3that until now has been essentially confined to the American literature.' The first attempt in the United States to study this type of pdicing was conducted by Stevens and MacKenna in 1988. and focused primarily upon selection procedures and equipment use.' The work carrieci out in the 1990's. by Peter Kraska and his colleagues in the United States has made him the leading authority on the subject. A review of the extant Canadian sociological litemture surrounding policing reveals a conspicuous absence of theoretical and empirical work on Police Tactical Units. Moreover, no official Canadian records are king kept on the purpose, prevalence and uses of these types of police units. These gaps stand in stark contrast to the path-breaking work of American critical criminologist Peter Kraska and his colleagues, (Kraska 1996, Kraska and Kappeler 1996, 2 A major strengtb of this study is the fàct th.t there was an eighty percent respoiuc rate to the wey. 3 ïhe terrn Police Tactid Unit was chosen due to the conftsion in the intemationai Iitentuie over what they term a Police Paramilitarizai Unit. See JMason : 1987, Waddington: 1987, Knsk.: 1999, Waddington: 1999. 4 The British littrat~~~ehm also looked at tactid policing; howcva their foau hubccn riot police rather than tactical police.