We watched in horror as a sniper picked off Dallas police officers one by one. A peaceful protest against police shootings that killed two men in Louisiana and Minnesota turned tragic.
"This type of incident is very demoralizing to law enforcement. It obviously is going to have a chilling effect on law enforcement," said Stuart Kaplan, former FBI agent.
Kaplan says what we saw happening on live television is the result of officers being outgunned.
"Typically, what we see is law enforcement is outfitted with an AR-15 or some sort of rifle, but that rifle or that AR-15 is maintained in the trunk of their vehicle or in a separate location," added Kaplan.
Officers took cover behind their patrol cars while a sniper killed 5 police officers and injured 7 more. SWAT responded by using a bomb robot to kill the gunman.
"I think what you're going to see, you're going to see law enforcement start to quickly transition to more of a power military-type of uniform," added Kaplan.
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Kaplan explains it will look like the tactical gear we saw officers equipped with on the front lines of riots in Ferguson in 2014. Kaplan calls this tragic shooting a domestic terror attack, the worst for police since 9-11.
"I think you're going to start to see normal cops go through some sort of urban assault training so they are properly, trained to understand what the dynamics are and how to neutralize this threat as quickly as possible," said Kaplan.
Kaplan believes local law enforcement departments will start to acquire and incorporate military-style vehicles.