Drones
The threat of drones and police preparedness: A mixed-methods study
This mixed-methods study surveyed 293 law enforcement officers nationwide to understand how police perceive and prepare for the threat posed by drones, or unmanned aerial systems. In open-ended responses, roughly two-thirds of officers described the drone threat to their own jurisdiction as moderate or high, citing contraband drops at correctional facilities, surveillance of police operations, and, at the most serious end, the potential for terrorism, attacks on critical infrastructure, and mass-casualty events at soft targets like concerts and sporting venues.
Active Shooter Events
Cumulative and co-occurring strains among mass public shooting perpetrators: implications for violence prevention
This study examined the life stressors, or strains, that build up in the lives of mass public shooters, drawing on a database of 171 mass public shooting incidents and 175 perpetrators in the United States between 1999 and 2024. Rather than looking for a single triggering grievance, the researchers coded eighteen different types of strain, such as psychiatric concerns, job-related difficulties, and interpersonal conflict, and measured how often they occurred together.
Active Shooter Events
Introducing Sharing Information to Stop Mass Shootings (SISMS): A short report on a behavioral and event-level dataset for the study of mass public shootings
This short report introduces Sharing Information to Stop Mass Shootings (SISMS), a new behavioral and event-level dataset built to support research on mass public shootings in the United States. The dataset currently documents 171 incidents and 175 perpetrators occurring between 1999 and 2024 for which pre-attack warning behaviors or leakage could be confirmed, drawing on public records, official documents, and triangulated open-source reporting.
Officer Stress & Performance
Box breathing and prolonged exhalation reduces markers of physiological stress reactivity in response to a virtual Trier Social Stress Test
This randomized controlled trial tested whether simple breathing techniques can blunt the body's stress response during an acutely stressful task. Sixty-six participants were assigned to normal breathing, prolonged exhalation, or box breathing before completing a virtual version of the Trier Social Stress Test, a standardized laboratory stress challenge.
Active Shooter Events
Known to the system? Criminal history, pre-attack behaviors, and firearms acquisition among mass public shooters with documented warning behaviors
This study examined 175 perpetrators across 171 mass public shooting incidents in the United States between 1999 and 2024, all of whom had displayed documented pre-attack warning behaviors such as leaking their intent to others. The goal was to determine whether shooters with a prior criminal record differed from those without one in their demographics, warning signs, and how they obtained their firearms.