Behavior Analysis and Policing: Session 124 with John O'Neill

The killing of George Floyd and others by police officers seems to have caused considerable reflection on how policing occurs in the United States.

We first covered this topic in Session 73 in my interview with Dr. Amy Smith Wiech, and if you're interested in this topic, I would suggest going back and checking that one out.

That episode aside, I think many of us in America are trying to come to grips in terms of how these events continue to happen.

It is with this in mind that I'm delighted to be joined by Dr. John O'Neill to talk more about this issue. John is the Founder and Director of Research at the Contextual Behavioral Science Institute, where he and his colleagues have published behavior analytic research on many law enforcement-related topics, such as training practices at police academies and the unintentional discharge of firearms.

In this conversation, we get into a lot of the difficult topics surrounding policing in America. Specifically, we discuss things like racism, gun ownership, de-escalation training, and much more. While we certainly didn't solve "all the problems" in our society, I think the interview really highlights just how complex law enforcement is, and that there are unfortunately no easy answers to our current predicament.

Our conversation was aided by the contribution of questions from the Behavioral Observations Membership group. The membership is the podcast's DIY Patreon if you will, where for a small monthly fee, members can submit their questions to guests, get early, commercial-free video access to these interviews, and participate in occasional Zoom calls with guests. In fact, John has agree to join us in the next hangout so if this topic piques your interest and you'd like to speak with him directly, consider signing up!

One final thing I'd like to say about this episode and some of the recent shows that I've put out over the last few months. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I've been trying to cover subjects like this one, that seem to be more topical in nature. If you have a chance, let me if this is something you'd like to see more of.

This episode of the podcast is brought to you by the following:

• The ABA Marketing Minute with Rich Brooks. Digital marketing guru and two-time guest Rich Brooks and I have teamed up to provide listeners with 60-second micro-lessons in digital marketing. You'll hear the first installment later in this broadcast, so I won't spoil it here. If you're interested in marketing your practice on social media or Google, or if you want to give your website a makeover, I highly recommend working with Rich and his awesome team over at Flyte New Media.
• Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings and podcast-specific discounts over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.
• The new book by Brett DiNovi and Dr. Paulie Gavoni, Behavioral Karma: 5 Scientific Laws of Life and Leadership. It's available for pre-purchase right now. I've gotten a sneak peek at some of the content and look forward to reading the book in its entirety.