The militarization of police is the use of military equipment and tactics by law enforcement officers. This includes the use of armored personnel carriers (APCs), assault rifles, submachine guns, flashbang grenades, sniper rifles, and SWAT teams. The militarization of law enforcement is also associated with intelligence agency–style information gathering aimed at the public and political activists and with a more aggressive style of law enforcement. Criminal justice professor Peter Kraska has defined militarization of police as "the process whereby civilian police increasingly draw from, and pattern themselves around, the tenets of militarism and the military model".
Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team members, some armed with assault rifles, preparing for an exercise
A large group of Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) SWAT officers in tactical gear at a Lakers parade in 2009
A Brazilian Federal Highway Police tactical team in the 2022 Independence Day parade.
A Barrie Police officer in full riot gear at the 2010 G20 Toronto summit protests
In the United States, a SWAT team is a generic term for a police tactical unit.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection SWAT officers preparing for a training exercise
Federal Bureau of Investigation SWAT agents fast-roping from a helicopter during training near downtown Los Angeles
USAF Security Forces SWAT officers during a training exercise at Travis Air Force Base in 1995
DoD SWAT officers responding to the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas