a) What is the STATED role of the tactical officer in modern policing? (I.e., what was the PURPOSE behind creating tactical response units?)
In modern policing issues, tactical intelligence has always been applied; that includes developing information related to crime or terrorism. Once relevant information has been prepared, it is used to apprehend offenders, especially the hard targets. Also, this method is meant to mitigate the threats that present themselves (Schmalleger, 2014, p.181). Tactical response units are called upon during any critical incident. Tactical units provide a well-tailored and coordinated support to the officers in case of an incident that requires a tactical response. A tactical officer has the main aim of providing authority and directions during an assignment, for instance, maintaining shield and weapon readiness. They also communicate to higher authorities. The intensity of the tactical officer’s role changes depending on the intensity of the situation and the kind of tactical approach applied.
b) How are tactical units ACTUALLY used in policing today?
In simple terms, they are divided into specialized groups, provided with the necessary resources and assigned tasks when they arise. The units are split into other smaller groups to allow for a division of labor. For instance, there is a Hostage Rescue Team and Crisis Negotiation Team among others (Pike, 2016). These various units are involved in their particular operations when called upon. Tactical units are used in different activities especially the highly critical ones. They are mainly involved in hostage rescue, explosive disposal high angle operations, armed terrorist attack, explosive forced entry, and warrant execution among others ("Tactical Operations," 2016). They are mainly used in the stated exceptional situations and also situations where the regular police do not have the capacity to handle. The tactical units are supplied with necessary body armor, surveillance devices and most importantly and an arsenal of weaponry necessary for every situation the come across. Their tactical units are also thoroughly trained to provide them with the needed skills to tackle the various high risks incidents, all in all; this is how the tactical units are used in policing today.
References
Pike, J. (2016). FM 4-0 Chapter 4, Roles and Responsibilities. Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 13 July 2016, from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/4-0/chap4.htm.
Schmalleger, F. (2014). Criminal Justice (10th ed., pp. 182, 203, 198). Boston: Pearson.
Tactical Operations. (2016). The Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 13 July 2016, from https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cirg/tactical-operations
