Active Shooter

JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW: ACTIVE SHOOTER ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
Active shooter incidents have proliferated both in schools and other public places in recent years. Since the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, the FBI has recorded dozens of shootings at all types of schools involving students, former students, and others not affiliated with the school. Active shooters date back even further back and include the University of Texas tower shootings in 1966. Charles Whitman killed 11 and wounded 31 more after killing his wife and mother. In 1991, George Hennard drove his truck into a Luby’s Cafeteria in Texas, shot and killed 23 people, wounding 27 more. More recently, in 2017 Stephen Paddock killed 60 and wounded over 400 concert goers from a Las Vegas hotel room. Omar Mateen killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub in 2016. These shootings, added to the 2012 massacre in Newtown, CT and the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, create a significant challenge to responding law enforcement officers. Solo entry is one of the more contentious policy issues that arise from active shooters. The implications to law enforcement training and practice are enormous; we live in a country where freedom is the most treasured right. How does law enforcement crisis response preserve those freedoms while developing a measured and effective response to active shooting situations? What are the non-negotiables in terms of policy and practice? Consider these questions as you complete this week’s article review.
INSTRUCTIONS
For this assignment, the student will select a peer reviewed journal article from one of the databases located in the University’s online library. The article will relate in some way to the reading material (use of force) the student has reviewed for this particular module. After the student reads the article, they should download the Journal Article Review Template. The student will then complete a Journal Article Review for the article they read. You are not reviewing the article in the sense that you are assessing it, but rather you are reviewing it so you can provide analysis and relate to your reader the main point and how they relate to the area of crisis intervention. The assignment is not to be too much shorter or longer than the example in the template. Ensure that you focus on the critical thinking piece of discussing implications the article has on criminal justice as this is the most important aspect of this process. How does the article’s content relate to the field of law enforcement? How does it influence policy and practice? This can be accomplished in the comments, recommendations, and conclusion sections of the assignment. Use an APA citation for the article you choose; you may provide additional reference support if you choose to, but it is not required.
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the SafeAssign plagiarism tool.
ARTICLE:
https://www-tandfonline-com(dot)ezproxy(dot)liberty(dot)edu/doi/full/10.1080/1057610X.2015.1008341
Template:
REVIEW OF A JOURNAL ARTICLE: AN EXAMPLE
o Bibliography (in APA format)
Author, F. (1776). Effects of classroom testing by microcomputer. Journal of ABCDE, 99(9), 9-19.
o Problem
Microcomputers are being used for a variety of purposes, but research about their instructional effectiveness lags behind adoption rates for the technology. Further, there is a limited research base about the effects of microcomputers in vocational agriculture on learning in the affective, cognitive, and psychomotor domains. The research base is even more shallow when effects of testing students by computer technology are explored.
Comments: The problem statements agreed with the title and seemed to be of educational significance. The problem was not clearly visible to the average reader, and it required several readings to establish why the researchers felt this study needed to be done. It was limited to the researchers’ capabilities and resources.
o Review of Literature
Student conducts a review of the literature and finds at least three relevant studies that have been conducted in an area of crisis intervention. Students will include a succinct summary of the research and how it informs the study under review. This summary will help to show the connection between the body of research, problem statement, hypotheses/research question (s), and the current study.
o Objectives
Specifically, the study sought to determine: (a) the effect taking an objective final examination by microcomputer would have upon student cognitive performance; (b) the effect this method of testing would have on student attitude about computers immediately after the examination; and (c) whether this method of testing would require more time than conventional paper and pencil testing procedure.
Comment: The author’s objectives were answerable, and they chose to obtain them by testing null hypotheses. These hypotheses were testable and served to help explain the problem.
o Hypothesis
This research tested hypotheses about how effectively microcomputers could be used to administer an objective classroom test to students who had studied and used computer technology.
Comments: The purpose was clearly and concisely stated and agreed with the title. It was limited to the researchers’ capabilities and resources.
o Methodology
The treatment followed the post-test only control group design; consequently, the study involved two replications. Both replications were conducted during a Nostate State University course. A two-stage random assignment was used in assigning groups and treatments. The three dependent variables measured in this study were: (a) minutes to complete the test; (b) score on the test; and (c) score on the attitudes about computers.
Comments: The methods used to gather the data for this article were clearly explained. The instruments and development were explained, and the reliability coefficients of all possible tests were given. The population used was adequate. No discussion of the statistical techniques was given in this particular section.
o Findings
Personal data by treatment and control group was provided in table form and explained with a short narrative.
Hypothesis one: A one-way analysis of covariance revealed that the two groups were not significantly different in terms of their scores on the 35-item final examination.
Hypothesis two: The mean attitudinal scores of the two groups were positive in both replications, and there was no significant difference in the two groups’ attitudes about computers.
Hypothesis three: There was a significant difference in minutes required to complete the exam in replication one; however, there was no significant difference in replication two.
Comments: The findings were well organized, sectioned, and reported objectively. The tables were well organized but, due to the difficulty of the statistical tests employed, would not stand alone to the average reader.
o Summary
Students should provide a succinct summary of the study in this section prior to providing the
summary of the article/study. There was no summary given. Or the author’s summary was misguided
because…
o Conclusions
Conclusions and implications were formulated with the knowledge that subjects for this study used microtechnology extensively during a computer applications course. In this investigation, final examination scores were independent of the method of testing. The method of testing was not a determinant of how students felt about computers. Since time required was not consistent over the two replications, the methods of testing as well as other factors appear to influence the time requirements of test completion.
Comments: The conclusions were based on the findings, logically stated, and included a discussion of
implications to criminal justice in general and law enforcement in particular. What does the article
mean to law enforcement leaders and officers? How does it influence recruiting, hiring, training, and
leadership?

o Recommendations
"Additional research is needed in other classroom settings to see if consistent findings about cognitive performances, time requirements, and attitude are achieved."
Comments: The recommendations were limited to a call for additional research in the area. What are
the student’s recommendations for future research and how would it impact crisis intervention in law
enforcement?