Episode 11: Contagious Fire

03/07/25 • 31 min

Whenever a police officer fires their weapon at another person it is important to understand why. What were the conditions that lead to the shooting? Explaining why a single officer shoots two or three times is important but explaining why three or four officers empty their clips seems to be a completely different question.
To better understand the idea of something called “contagious fire” we are joined today by Eric Dlugolenski from Central Connecticut State University.
Main Topics
•We’ll discuss the importance of studying contagious fire even if it’s a rare event.
•Eric will explain the use of video simulators to study officer shooting behavior.
•I also ask Eric to clarify the difference between shooting “errors” and justifications.

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Previous Episode

Episode 10: Hot Spots Policing

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Hot spots policing has been around for more than 20 years, and there are many studies exploring its use. Joining us to discuss the broad range of research on the topic is Brandon Turchan, a professor of criminal justice at Michigan State University.

Main Topics

•We’ll summarize the nuts and bolts of hot spots policing.
•Brandon will explain that even if a hot spot never goes away, the police can keep these locations “cool.”
•Hot spots policing tactics can be successful, but the gains are amplified when combined with procedural justice or problem-oriented tactics.

Next Episode

Episode 12: Policing Deaths during Active Shooter Events

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Police officers are trained to use deadly physical force as a last resort. They are also trained to reduce their own risk of death. Active shooter events, however, require a different behavior formula. Officers are trained to move toward danger, and there is an expectation that they should “kill the killer” (as stated by a Florida Sheriff after the active shooting incident at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School). These behaviors may contribute to the deaths of police officers. Dr. Pete Blair, from Texas State University, joins us to break down these events and what might increase the survivability of police officers who respond to an active shooter event.

Main Topics
•Dr. Blair will discuss Normal Accidents and Resilience Engineering and their relation to officer behavior during these events.
•He’ll examine the common conditions that lead to officer deaths.
•Finally, Dr. Blair will discuss the changes to training that may be needed for responding to an active shooter event.

If you are interested in discussion your agency's participation in the research project I mentioned in the leadup to the podcast episode, feel free to contact me at my Buffalo State email address: [email protected]

If you are interested in the data discussed by Dr. Blair, use the link below:

https://tacticalscience.substack.com/p/updated-data-on-the-most-dangerous

Chain Survival: Responding to an Active Attack, by Dr. Blair and Dr. Martaindale, is available at Amazon (check the link below):

https://www.amazon.com/Chain-Survival-Responding-Active-Attack/dp/B0DFS3K8P8/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1

Police In-Service Training - Episode 11: Contagious Fire

Transcript

Welcome to the police in service training podcast. This podcast is dedicated to providing
research evidence to street level police officers and command staff alike. The program is intended
to help the police and law enforcement community create better programs, understand challenging
policies and dispel myths of police officer behavior. I'm your host, Scott Phillips.
In 1999, four NYPD officers fired 41 shots at Amadou Diallo, striking him 19 times in
his doorway at the top of t