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Policing tactics are directly related to those used to improve public health (e.g., the impact of abandoned housed on crime and interventions to reduce gun violence). Policing can also benefit by including success stories along the lines of those used by many industries: counting the number of accident-free days. Dr. Branas, the Chair of the department of epidemiology at Columbia University, discusses a recent study that supports using “shooting-free days” to measure crime prevention success. Dr. Branas suggests that this approach does not replace counting shootings; rather, it provides a counter approach to understanding harm.

Main Topics

• Measuring the number of shooting-free days, and a few other similar metrics, offer a different perspective on violent crime.
• This study examined gun violence data from 10 large cities as a proof-of-concept.
• The same simple calculations can be used in any city that experiences violent crime, particularly shootings.

Here is the citation for the research:

Branas, C. C., Plumber, I., Bennett, R., Landes, O., & Rajan, S. (2026, March). Shooting-Free Days as a New Metric of Success in Reducing Firearm Violence. In JAMA Health Forum (Vol. 7, No. 3, p. e260078). American Medical Association.

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The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the author and guests, and are not authorized by and do not necessarily reflect those of the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services or the State of New York.