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NYPD To Review Training After Bell Shooting

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Jan 4, 2007 5:13 pm US/Eastern

NYPD To Review Training After Bell Shooting

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― Nearly six weeks after an unarmed man died in a hail of 50 police bullets, the Rand Corp. research group has been hired to review the New York Police Department's training and tactics for use of firearms.

The study will look at "officers' responses in highly stressful situations," police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday at a news conference.

Kelly said one aim would be to "reduce the incidence of reflexive or so-called contagious shooting" -- the phenomenon of officers firing an excessive number of rounds in a chain reaction.

Five officers using semiautomatic pistols fired a total of 50 times while trying to stop a car on Nov. 25 outside a topless bar in Queens, killing the driver, Sean Bell, and injuring two of his friends. Police, who were conducting an undercover operation at the bar, have said they suspected the men were going to retrieve a gun to settle a dispute, but no weapon was recovered.

The shooting sparked community outrage and prompted a grand jury investigation to determine whether the officers should face criminal charges. The officers were put on leave pending the outcome.

The victims in the shooting were black; the officers were black and white.

The researcher heading the Rand review, K. Jack Riley, said it would focus in part on the department's use of computers to simulate various shooting scenarios for officers.

Riley said the study would take about six months. Police officials put the cost at about $500,000 and said it would be paid for by a private fundraising foundation.

Rand has previous experience working with police departments in Los Angeles, Cincinnati, New Orleans and Oakland, Calif.

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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