How good is the average PD Sniper?
Not very good yet, but they are pissed off and practicing.

Not very good yet, but they are pissed off and practicing.
This is correct. Sniper discipline is entirely different than marksman or sharpshooter which by the way is simply what many here on this site are. Very good shots with very accurate rifles. Sniper as the term applies are those shooting from concealment and a hide where muzzle flash isn't identified. Complete concealment in the form of whatever surrounding terrain tends to be. Police or LE precision shooters are not snipers. They simply are there as a last resort means to stop a hostage taker or baracaded hostage taking gunman not willing under any circumstances to give up their victims with death being imminent for the hostage. Obviously there are many other circumstances for one as most of the country saw in the 1997 North Hollywood bank shootout with police. Total disregard for LE and civilian lives while shooting a fully auto weapon at police. This called for an urban marksman to simply get a bullet in from a good vantage point and shut down the threat. Again, a very disciplined and experienced shooter with very good shooting skills with a precision rifle. They do still call them snipers at some LE centers and SWAT teams.When and where did this police "sniper" thing come from? Hollywood? The belief that all men are created equal? As in sniper vs marksman. They have always been referred to as marksman, or, sharpshooter.
To answer the original question that started this thread; good enough to hold 8 NRA national record certificates!
How do you come up with the average...what are you measuring ?Average? Come now.
You hope you don’t come off sounding like a jerk, but You make a lot of generalizations that I’m pretty sure you don’t have any data on. You talk about “most departments” a lot. How many have you ever had any contact with? There are thousands of law enforcement agencies in the US and each one of them operates in a unique environment. In large cities, relatively short range shots, often through building or auto glass, are the norm. In rural counties, longer shots may be required. Anytime a LEO fires a weapon, there will be an investigation. Criminal charges, civil liability, civil rights violations, and the future of a career are on the line. All this greatly limits the possible weapons and ammo deployed and actions taken. And then you have to put up with know it alls who say you are not very good. When I was in the field, I could shoot as well as anyone on this list, if they were dealing with the same equipment and operational restrictions that I was. Cops are not very popular unless they are saving your ass. I hope I don’t have to rely on some bench rest shooter to rescue me.The short answer is: Not very good. I have met a few and shot with a few others. Most are good marksmen, as well as being good officers, but not exceptional shooters. When it comes to pure shooting ability and knowledge they are not trained thoroughly. Most departments don't train much, or send their sniper's out for advanced training. Usually they qualify for the job and are required to shoot very little to stay qualified. They would most likely never need the ability or equipment to make super difficult shots for their job. It does disappoint me that they are not given more training and better equipment. There are however exceptions. Some police swat snipers train and compete at very high levels and are excellent shooters, but on average I would say most are not. If I was ever in danger, I would rather have one of the guys I compete with take that shot. I sincerely hope I don't come off sounding like a jerk. Today I met and hung out with swat sniper at the range, kinda the only reason I even chimed in on this thread.
You hope you don’t come off sounding like a jerk, but You make a lot of generalizations that I’m pretty sure you don’t have any data on. You talk about “most departments” a lot. How many have you ever had any contact with? There are thousands of law enforcement agencies in the US and each one of them operates in a unique environment. In large cities, relatively short range shots, often through building or auto glass, are the norm. In rural counties, longer shots may be required. Anytime a LEO fires a weapon, there will be an investigation. Criminal charges, civil liability, civil rights violations, and the future of a career are on the line. All this greatly limits the possible weapons and ammo deployed and actions taken. And then you have to put up with know it alls who say you are not very good. When I was in the field, I could shoot as well as anyone on this list, if they were dealing with the same equipment and operational restrictions that I was. Cops are not very popular unless they are saving your ass. I hope I don’t have to rely on some bench rest shooter to rescue me.
~Gary
The town where I live used to host an annual police match, The sniper target was a bad guy with a hostage in front of him, about 2/3 of the bad guys head was visible. Out of 5 snipers at 100 ads 1 hit the bad guy, the others hit the hostage.
Yup, me too. ‘Prairie Dog’ perfect!Based on the title I completely missed the focus of this thread. I thought PD was referring to "prairie dog"...
My bet is that most serious varmint hunters ability far exceeds most law enforcement shooters ability. As usual, there are probably exceptions and I could be wrong.