Police Chief Magazine|Columns|Research in Brief
Research in Brief: Examining the “Contagious Fire” Phenomenon in Police Shootings

Are officers more likely to shoot and to fire more rounds when nearby officers open fire at a suspect? This question directly addresses the “contagious fire” phenomenon, which comes into play in police shootings involving multiple officers and multiple shots fired.

While the term has been used in media headlines and police discussions for years, it has received little rigorous scientific examination until recently.

Understanding the contagious fire phenomenon is crucial for police agencies. If officers are indeed influenced by their peers’ actions in high-stress situations, it could lead to unnecessary use of force, potential harm to civilians or officers, and damage to community trust. By recognizing and addressing this phenomenon, agencies can improve officer decision-making, enhance public safety, and reduce liability risks associated with officer-involved shootings.

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Research in Brief: The National Wellness Survey for Public Safety Personnel

In the United States, nearly 5 million people currently serve as professional or volunteer first responders, including police officers, emergency communication operators (ECOs), correctional officers ...
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Research in Brief: The Philadelphia Predictive Policing Experiment

A few years ago, predictive policing was all the rage. The term appeared with considerable frequency, companies offered expensive software options to police departments, and related sessions at the IA...
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Research in Brief: The Emergence of Tele-Cops

Police agencies are grappling with a significant reduction in personnel. Across the United States, there has been nearly a 5 percent decrease in sworn staff over the past three years.1 Since May 20...
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Research in Brief: Alternative Response Models and Outcomes

Law enforcement and the communities they serve want many of the same things. They want effective responses to crime and other problems. They want policing that promotes safety and trust....
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Research in Brief: Bicycle Patrols for Drug Market Disruption

In 2016, 33 percent of local law enforcement agencies used bicycle patrols on an as-needed basis, with 6 percent utilizing them regularly. This marked a slight increase from 2007 when around 27 per...
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Research in Brief: Charting a Path toward Racial and Gender Diversity among Police Leaders

Calls for a police workforce that is diverse with respect to race, ethnicity, and gender date back many years, and the benefits of diversity are now well supported by empirical research.1 Yet, achi...
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Research in Brief: Understanding and Improving the Experiences of Women Officers

Diversifying policing agencies may be an essential step in building community trust. Yet, women officers make up just 12 percent of sworn officers and 3 percent of police leaders in the United States....
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Research in Brief: The Use-of-Force “Reasonableness Divide”

  While a significant number of community members perceive that many uses of force are excessive, police agencies and the criminal courts rarely find that force is legally unreasonable. This disc...
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Research in Brief: Current and Future Law Enforcement Data Collections

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is the United States’ primary source for criminal justice statistics and the primary statistical agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The mission of B...
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Research in Brief: Assessing Acute Stress Response During Live-Action & Virtual Reality Training

Scenario-based training (SBT) is com-monly used to support classroom instruction at police training academies or in continued education programs (99.7 percent).1...
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