Revisiting the “Velvet Glove” versus the “Iron Fist”: Canadian Police Tactical Teams and Community Policing

The mandate of a specialized police tactical (TAC) team is to respond to high-risk and violent calls for service in society where patrol officers may struggle to mitigate calls for service safely. Yet TAC teams have come under public scrutiny for their (in)actions during calls for service within their primary and secondary mandates and for their appearance and presence at community events. Existing research has raised red flags about a community policing Trojan horse, where the police present a false chimera to the public that they are democratizing via community policing while synchronously increasing military-style tactics, equipment, and training for their TAC teams. The suggestion arises that police militarization is antithetical to community policing. We draw on 24 interviews with two similarly sized full-time municipal TAC teams from two different provinces in Canada to further unpack how TAC teams engage in community policing. We find evidence that mobilizing TAC teams at community events can be pro-social for community interactions, can assist in combating negative public opinion about TAC, and can provide job fulfillment and job satisfaction and increase purpose for TAC officers.