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Many police officers now carry less-lethal tools, which provide police officers with the means to apprehend resistant suspects without the need for hands-on tactics or firearms. Hopefully this reduces the risk of civilian injury and death. Still, a civilian can sustain an injury from a less-lethal tool. Since most police agencies support the use of these tools, why not use the one that works but also reduces the risk of civilian injury? Dr. Keven Petersen from the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte joins the podcast to discuss his recent study, “Less‑Lethal Weapons and Civilian Injury in Police Use of Force Encounters: A Multi‑agency Analysis,” coauthored by Christopher S. Koper, Bruce G. Taylor, Weiwei Liu and Jackie Sheridan‑Johnson.

Main Topics

• An officer’s use of force is linked to police-community relations.
• Ranking the different less-lethal force tools on the force continuum remains challenging.
• Chemical agents appear to cause the least harm to civilians.
• The impact on officer’s safety remains important.

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Gunshot detections systems work. No, gunshot detection systems don’t work. Can we have it both ways? It’s kind of like the first line in A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Well? Which is it? This week we’ll be discussing Gunshot Detection Systems and the impact on evidence collection and crime. Dr. Eric Piza, the Lipman Family Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice and Director of Crime Analysis Initiatives at Northeastern University, joins the podcast to discuss his 2024 study, “Gunshot detection technology effect on gun violence in Kansas City, Missouri: A microsynthetic control evaluation, coauthored by David N. Hatten, George O. Mohler, Jeremy G. Carter, and Jisoo Cho.

Main Topics

• The price tag for a gunshot detection system (GDS) can get very expensive very quickly.
• The use of a gunshot detection system was associated with higher levels of ballistic evidence collection in the GDS target area and surrounding location.
• The GDS did not influence any of the gun violence categories involving confirmed victims (i.e., fatal and non-fatal, shootings, aggravated assaults).
• We also get into the political aspects of research, and the role of an academic in policy debates.

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And don't forget to provide a review. Giving five stars is never a bad idea.

Feel free to email me your comments using the "send us a text" option (above), or at the following email address: policeinservicetrainingpodcast@gmail.com

You can also contact me at: Bluesky: @policeinservice.bsky.social

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Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on an unproven tool is wasteful, and Artificial Intelligence equipment for policing can be just such an expensive outlay. While there is a growing body of research showing the AI benefits and limits within policing, the jury is still out on its overall utility. Professor Ian Adams joins the podcast to discuss his paper titled, “Improving police behavior through artificial intelligence: Pre-registered experimental results in two large US agencies,” published in Criminology (coauthored by Kyle McLean and Geoff Alpert).

Main Topics

• Using AI to audit body camera transcripts, there was an 80% increase in professional behavior in an already professional department.
• Substandard behavior was significantly reduced in a department with existing problems.
• The improved behavior may not be a change in the hearts of officers, but better is still better.

Don't forget to like, FOLLOW, and share. Sharing this podcast or an episode is one of the best complements I can receive, which will help grow the show.

And don't forget to provide a review. Giving five stars is never a bad idea.

Feel free to email me your comments using the "send us a text" option (above), or at the following email address: policeinservicetrainingpodcast@gmail.com

You can also contact me at: Bluesky: @policeinservice.bsky.social