The need for specialized training for police sharpshooters was made apparent in 1972 during the Munich massacre when the German police could not deploy specialized personnel or equipment during the standoff at the airport in the closing phase of the crisis , and consequently all of the Israeli hostages were killed . While the German army did have snipers in 1972 , the use of snipers of the German army in the scenario was impossible due to the German constitution 's explicit prohibition of the use of the military in domestic matters . This lack of police trained snipers was later addressed with the founding of the specialized police counter-terrorist unit GSG 9 , which subsequently became a widely copied model for a police special forces unit
Munich massacre
Munich massacre
Militarization of police