Talyn
Emissary
The Birth of the Modern Patrol Rifle
On February 28, 1997, a LAPD patrol unit called for assistance with a “211 in progress,” or an armed robbery. That call was quickly followed by a “Shots fired! Require backup.” This call would forever change the law enforcement weapons culture.This was, of course, the infamous North Hollywood shootout, where the LAPD ended up engaging two heavily armed suspects determined to avoid capture after a bank robbery. It also launched the evolution of the patrol rifle.
The two assailants were armed with fully automatic rifles while the responding officers were relegated to a variety of handguns and the rare shotgun. The two suspects also utilized body armor, which the police stood little chance of defeating with handguns. This situation eventually drove several officers to enter a local gun store, where they secured rifles to engage the suspects. The fight continued until SWAT arrived and the suspects were stopped.
In the end, both sides had fired over 2,000 rounds, and when the smoke cleared, 18 people were injured and two were dead. This was one of the longest and bloodiest shootouts in American law enforcement history.
The Evolution of the Patrol Rifle
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The incident sent ripples through the law enforcement community around the country. It became evident that a glaring hole in firepower existed in the standard officer’s loadout.
Debate started, and the voices of officers began to be heard. They needed rifles. While there have always been agencies that deployed rifles with their standard patrol officers, a vast majority of agencies only issued handguns and the occasional shotgun as their general weapons package.
The detailed review of the events in North Hollywood, however, became the catalyst for agencies across the U.S. to review their policies regarding patrol rifles....