Contagious Shooting

January 5, 2007 -- "The NYPD has hired a nationally recognized think tank to conduct an independent review of the department's weapons-use record and firearms training in the wake of the fatal shooting of Sean Bell.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the six-month, $500,000 examination by the RAND Corp. will also take a hard look at the phenomenon known as "contagious" shooting, where a group of cops fires reflexively after one of them starts shooting.

Kelly said he could not recall a time when such a "comprehensive" outside scrutiny of all NYPD firearms issues - from how recruits are initially trained to how shooting incidents are reviewed - was ever done.

"I don't think it has been sufficiently studied," he said, after making the announcement at a Police Headquarters press conference with Jack Riley, the acting director of the RAND Center on Quality Policing.

Kelly said RAND, a not-for-profit research organization, will not directly investigate the 50-bullet shooting that killed Bell and wounded two of his pals outside a Jamaica, Queens, strip club. The incident is being probed by Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

RAND, however, will likely use instructional firearms and training findings uncovered by the grand jury. Jurors this week will begin to determine whether criminal charges should be lodged against any of the cops involved in the Bell shooting, including a detective who fired 31 times.

"Questions have arisen as to the quality and effectiveness of our training," said Kelly in explaining why he brought in RAND. "Simple as that."

The $500,000 price tag will be paid by the New York City Police Foundation, a nonprofit that pays for police initiatives not funded by the city.

Shortly after the Nov. 25 Bell killing, Kelly announced the creation of a blue-ribbon panel, largely made up of NYPD officials, to examine the case and department's recruitment, training and operation of undercover cops.

Although that panel will continue, the move to retain RAND shows the commissioner feels a more independent study has to be done.

'Our goal is to have all of our firearms training to be examined in depth to be certain that everything is being done to prepare our officers for the very difficult environment that exists on the streets of New York,' Kelly said. 'There is no outcome we are looking for.'"

RAND began as an arm of the US Air Force. RAND stands for Research And Development. The only research and development necessary in this case is that which focuses upon the fact that the NYPD needs better service weapons and of course much more training, and it wouldn't hurt to RAND the black "leaders" who use the deaths of their constituents as step stools.

Contact the NYPD and inquire as to the amount of ammunition and range time each officer gets annually. Then, lets say 10 years from now after you've waded through the midirection and misinformation, get back to me.