Citation

O'Neill DA, Spence WR, Lewinski WJ, Novak EJ. Police Pract. Res. 2021; 22(2): 1209-1228.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15614263.2019.1617143

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Potentially lethal blue-on-blue (i.e. officer-on-officer) encounters result in the use-of-force against an unidentified officer, such as an off-duty or undercover officer (OD/UC), and have not been empirically investigated. A vignette involving an ambiguous situation involving a plainclothes individual with a gun and 6-item survey were used to determine (a) how officers would respond to ensure the safety of those on scene and (b) how well responses from participants with blue-on-blue training or lived experience adhered to recommendations from the New York Task Force on Police-on-Police Shootings. A secondary aim was to investigate near misses (i.e. almost using force against a fellow officer in the field). In the vignette, a uniformed officer arrives at a scene where one plainclothes individual is holding another plainclothes individual at gunpoint. Thematic analysis revealed variables perceived to maximize safety. Less than half of the sample received blue-on-blue training, and exposure to training was not significantly related to previous recommendations. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

Blue-on-blue; officer decision-making; officer safety; training; use-of-force