Police Sniper Utilization Surveys Available

Derrick D. Bartlett – President

American Sniper Association

What is the average distance of a police sniper shooting in the United States?

The generic answer to that question (for at least the last 30 years) has been “around 70 yards.” It has been stated as fact in sniper schools, articles, books, and conversations around the country. When pressed for a source of this information, most people have credited “the FBI’s statistics.”

When the American Sniper Association (ASA) was formed in 2000, one of the first orders of business was obtaining a copy of those statistics to see how current they were and to perhaps do our part to update them. We were somewhat amazed to discover that the FBI didn’t collect information or statistics specific to police sniper shootings. The report so many snipers, instructors and authors had been quoting and relying on was, in fact, a myth. 

Realizing this information had never been collected, ASA seized upon this as an opportunity to impact the sniper community in a beneficial and positive way. We initiated a project to gather statistical data about police snipers’ use of force engagements. A survey form was developed which asked the questions which were of most interest and importance to sniper teams and administrators. We established the parameters of our survey field regarding the agencies to be involved; time span to be covered; and the types of engagements which would qualify as “sniper” shootings. Then, using the labor of a group of dedicated volunteers, the work began.

Survey Methodology and Criterion

The US Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics was asked to provide a current listing of agencies from around the country which maintain a SWAT team. The DOJ’s annual report, “Law Enforcement Management Statistics, Data of Individual State and Local Agencies,” provided an alphabetized listing of 897 agencies to contact.

To call and/or write each SWAT team, we also needed a listing of each agency with general information about them. The National Public Safety Information Bureau annually publishes the “National Directory of Law Enforcement Administrators” which provides a complete listing of local, county, state, and federal agencies from around the United States.

Agencies outside of our initial contact schedule were made aware of the survey process through presentations made by ASA personnel at tactical conferences, sniper schools, seminars, and competitions nationwide. After advising them of the survey and explaining our goals and objectives, interested attendees were given survey forms to complete. Notifications were also made on our website and in SNIPER, the Snipercraft quarterly newsletter.

Articles explaining the survey process and its goals and objectives were published in several major tactical and law enforcement magazines. As a result of reading the articles, agencies contacted ASA to request forms. By monitoring national news and wire services, we were made aware of sniper-related incidents occurring around the country during the survey periods. In these cases, we followed up by directly contacting the involved agencies to obtain information.

The result of this dissemination process was that, although our initial contact pool was limited to agencies known to have SWAT teams, many agencies beyond the scope of that group voluntarily participated in the survey after direct contacts with ASA personnel. This, in turn, has led to a more comprehensive and complete survey of tactical teams around the country by reaching additional teams which would not have been included.

After the data collection phase of this project was completed, time was invested in verification of the information gathered. Many of the agencies contacted in the initial phase were contacted again to clarify vague or conflicting information. Hundreds of additional man-hours were spent searching newspaper archives in attempts to find story details about most of the documented incidents.

This project was ambitious at the outset and proved arduous in the execution, but we were proud to finally produce the Police Sniper Utilization Report. This report was a significant accomplishment and is unprecedented in its scope. A comprehensive study of the use and effectiveness of police snipers in the United States now exists.

The finished product is not a dry recitation of numbers and boring bar graphs. Instead, it compiles data and relevant anecdotal information which will prove useful in understanding how snipers have been employed over the past three decades. Beyond knowing the average distance of police sniper shootings, readers will find additional important operational information; for instance, the longest and shortest distances encountered. The breakdown shows how many have occurred in daylight, as opposed to low light. Readers will also learn how often shots have passed through intermediate barriers, as well as how many have passed through their intended target. Many more operational circumstances were recorded and quantified, as well. The data in this report gives administrators, snipers and team leaders a clearer picture of real-world sniper operations. It has also helped dispel several misconceptions about snipers. Our goal is to assist SWAT team leadership in structuring training, buying equipment and planning deployments.

Highlights and Lessons Learned

Only shots which were the result of “a deliberate long rifle shot, by a person assigned to the sniper position, against a designated human target” were recorded as a sniper shot. This excluded shots by patrol, entry or perimeter officers, or shots taken with handguns or submachine guns. It also excludes shots on animals, cars or other objects. We did receive report forms detailing shootings in these categories.

  • To date, we have collected reports of over 500 police sniper shootings, occurring between 1984 and 2022.
  • Not surprisingly, the .308 has been the most common caliber used by snipers. Others employed have included .223, 30-06, 300WM, and .338.
  • Contrary to common beliefs, less than half of the persons shot were struck in the head. Most suspects were hit in the body or their extremities.
  • Much of traditional sniper training has been limited to prone, bipod and 100 yard shooting drills. A fact verified by the report is that sniper shootings are likely to be done from a variety of distances and seldom from a prone bipod position. In fact, documentation shows nearly half of the snipers have had to utilize standing, sitting, kneeling, squatting, and improvised positions. Hopefully, this knowledge will inspire teams to incorporate position shooting into their training programs in the future. It certainly removes the most common excuses to avoid doing so.
  • Nearly 98% of the recorded police sniper shootings have taken place at distances inside of 200 yards. This is contrary to the belief of some that snipers in rural areas are deploying and shooting at long ranges.
  • Night vision equipment has played only a limited role in actual shootings to date. However, there is a demonstrated need for teams to purchase and train with night vision. Nearly 45% of the shootings documented occurred during low light hours.
  • Dozens of instances have been documented when two or more snipers fired simultaneous shots at a single suspect. However, none of the reports received recorded sniper engagements on multiple suspects.

The Real-world Sniper

There is nothing contained in this report which could be viewed as critical of law enforcement agencies. Since no agencies or persons are identified in the report, it does not expose any participating agency to future litigation. Therefore, there is no concern of it inevitably making its way into the hands of attorneys. However, the report carries with it an implied warning for every agency reading it. We have clearly documented what snipers are facing in real-world operations. Learning what snipers are actually doing should become the framework for purchasing equipment and designing training programs to prepare your team for the realities of the job. This report can help quantify the standards all teams will be expected to meet and every law enforcement sniper should read these reports.

A Living Document

The Police Sniper Utilization database is the only one of its kind anywhere in the tactical world. The survey’s reports represent a constantly evolving work in progress. As soon as collecting available data for specific timeframes has ended, additional incidents will be discovered, as they have gone unreported in our prior collection attempts. We continue to hope agencies which initially balked at participating will be convinced of the legitimacy of the project after reading the series of reports.

Nothing contained in it is meant to critique or second-guess the actions of any of the snipers or agencies represented in this document and it is not presented that way. It is important that the tactical community does not shy away from taking a critical look at its history and pay attention to the lessons waiting to be learned. Where applicable, we have identified learning points found in specific incidents. In most cases, the responsible sniper team provides them. Others are drawn from objective analysis of the facts of the incident. The report narrative also contains training recommendations based on those lessons learned. 

Although the latest report is completed, the process is not. We encourage agencies to help us maintain current data by reporting any sniper-involved shootings to the ASA, as soon as it is practical. We understand the issues raised by ongoing investigations and pending litigation. Our need is for statistical information. The information requested on the survey form is basic, nonjudgmental details contained in an incident report. We don’t solicit investigative information which could be subpoenaed or otherwise used in a civil case. The individual officer or agency involved is not part of the database and neither is identified in the final report. All data and information collected will be considered sensitive and will not be distributed to the public.

A Sniper Utilization Survey Form can be found on the American Sniper Association’s website at americansniper.org. If you have any questions or would like information on how to receive a copy of the report, please contact ASA at info@americansniper.org, or by calling 863-385-7835. Limited copies of the 2017, 2019 and 2021 Editions are still available. Ordering information is available on the website at americansniper.org.

Derrick Bartlett is a 28 year veteran of law enforcement. He retired from the Fort Lauderdale (FL) Police Department where he served as a SWAT sniper. Twenty-two years in special operations have provided him with opportunities to train with several elite units and renowned instructors. Derrick is a founding member and the current president of the American Sniper Association. As the managing director of Snipercraft, Inc., he has provided instruction for snipers and supervisors for hundreds of police agencies throughout the United States. He is a committee member of the NTOA Sniper Section and has authored the books, Snipercraft: The Art of the Police Sniper, Staring at the Crosshairs and Riding the Recoil.