Media & News
This page collects Research Ring news, announcements, media appearances, and assets available for press use. For interview requests or other inquiries, use the contact form on the Work With Us page.
Announcements
OperatorXR Visits ALERRT to Train the Research Ring on Its VR System OperatorXR visited ALERRT on October 7 to train Jessie, our new research associate, on its virtual reality system. Curry Newton leads sales at OperatorXR. Matt Moore is a 3D artist and customer success manager. They spent the day walking Jessie through the headsets, controllers, and instructor tools. We also talked about pizza for an unreasonable share of the day, and the research on that question remains ongoing. We look forward to running new studies with OperatorXR.
Translational Health Research Center Leadership Tours the ALERRT Range Hunter, Joe, and Peter welcomed leadership from Texas State’s Translational Health Research Center (THRC) to the ALERRT range on September 29: Melinda Villagran, THRC Executive Director; Marsha Burney, Director of Community Relations; Carolyn Chang, Director of Bioscience Education and Research Training Programs; and Kelly Clary, Associate Professor in the School of Social Work. The group toured ALERRT’s training operation, including one of the doors from the 2022 Uvalde shooting, which anchors the Research Ring’s report on door locks in school-based active shooter events, and discussed opportunities for closer collaboration between ALERRT and the THRC.
Leading Causes of Death Among First Responders — Tri-State FACE Team Meeting, Cincinnati Peter traveled to the University of Cincinnati on September 23 to speak to the Tri-State FACE Team (Firefighters Attacking the Cancer Epidemic), a regional fire-service safety and health coalition spanning Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Presenting alongside J.C. Barnes, Professor and Director of UC’s School of Criminal Justice and co-author on the Research Ring’s officer mortality work, Peter gave an evidence-based overview of the leading causes of death among first responders, drawing on the Research Ring’s population-wide study of law enforcement officer mortality and previewing findings from the Research Ring’s in-progress study of mortality among firefighters.
Force Science Conference — Austin, Texas The Research Ring was in Austin for the Force Science Conference (September 22–24, 2026), a three-day gathering of more than 40 speakers on use-of-force research and practice. ALERRT Director Pete Blair delivered one of the conference keynotes, “Linking the Chain: From Course Hours to Capability,” on translating training time into operational skill. Joe joined the expert panel “Controlling the Chaos: Human Performance and the Science of Arrest and Control,” and Hunter attended. The ALERRT Center also supported the conference as a Silver Sponsor.
New Grant — Extreme Risk Protection Orders and Firearm Suicide in New York The Research Ring has been awarded a grant from the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium to study the effects of Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) on firearm suicide in New York. The project, led by Hunter with Peter as co-PI, uses two complementary quasi-experimental approaches: a multi-state difference-in-differences design and a within-New York county-level panel analysis. See the full grant entry for details.
ASEBP Annual Conference — Washington, D.C. The Research Ring traveled to Washington, D.C., for the American Society of Evidence Based Policing (ASEBP) Annual Conference (May 20–22, 2026). Joe presented Research Ring findings on striking versus grappling in law enforcement use-of-force, and ALERRT Director Pete Blair delivered a talk on ecological dynamics drawn from his recent article on ecological dynamics frameworks for police training design. Joe was also recognized by ASEBP as an Evidence Based Policing Trailblazer — an honor limited to 100 recipients worldwide — and received the Trailblazer coin at the conference. Congratulations, Joe!
The Role of Locked Doors and Access Control in School-Based Active Shooter Events The ALERRT Research Ring has published the final report from its SIA-funded study on door locks and physical access-control measures in K–12 active shooter events. Drawing on 54 completed events between 2000 and 2025, four averted incidents, and case studies of Uvalde (2022) and Evergreen High School (2025), the report finds that noncompliance — not hardware failure — is the dominant failure mode: 61.7% of doors involved in attacks were unlocked or propped open at the time of the incident. The report concludes with eight evidence-based recommendations for school administrators, security professionals, and policymakers.
A national-level assessment of LEO mortality Peter presented major findings from the Research Ring’s law enforcement mortality study, published in Lancet Regional Health — Americas, at the PERF Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, CA. The talk was delivered alongside Research Ring collaborator Ian Adams (University of South Carolina).
Secured Doors Save Lives: Research on School-Based Active Shooter Events Hunter, Jack, and Joe presented findings from the Research Ring’s SIA-funded study on door locks in school-based active shooter events at ISC West (International Security Conference & Exposition) in Las Vegas, NV (March 23–27, 2026). Their talk, “Secured Doors Save Lives: Research on School-Based Active Shooter Events,” examined how physical security features — particularly door locks and access-control measures — affected outcomes across 54 K–12 shooting incidents. The same presentation will be given at the DHI Annual Conference (Door and Hardware Institute) in Nashville, TN, May 27–29.
Leading Causes of Death Among Law Enforcement Occupations: New Evidence from the National Occupational Mortality Surveillance Data Peter presented findings from the Research Ring’s law enforcement mortality study, published in Lancet Regional Health — Americas, at the IACP Annual Conference in Denver, CO (October 21, 2025). The talk drew on data from the CDC’s National Occupational Mortality Surveillance (NOMS) system to identify the leading causes of death across all law enforcement occupations from 2020 to 2023, calculate national-level cause-specific mortality rates, and compare those rates with other first responder occupations and the general population. The findings were used to offer policy recommendations for officer health and wellness programs.
In the News
Business Insider · May 20, 2026
Texas State University’s ALERRT Center Releases Groundbreaking Research on Active Shooter Events in Schools
Press coverage of the Research Ring’s SIA-funded report on door locks and access control in K–12 active shooter events. Hunter Martaindale, director of research at ALERRT and lead researcher on the report, is quoted: “Nearly two-thirds of the doors in our dataset were unlocked or propped open at the moment of attack. The hardware only protects students, teachers and staff when it is consistently used.”
Spectrum News 1 · January 01, 2026
Study finds police officers face higher long-term health risks than general population
Features J.C. Barnes (University of Cincinnati), co-author of the ALERRT-led officer mortality study published in The Lancet Regional Health — Americas. The study analyzed over 15,000 law enforcement officer deaths, finding that officers face elevated long-term health risks from heart disease, cancer, and suicide compared to the general population.
Podcasts & Interviews
Texas State University Media · March 20, 2026
Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) at TXST
A short-form feature from Texas State University highlighting the ALERRT Center and its rapid response training mission. [Watch on YouTube]
Policing Matters Podcast (Police1) · December 17, 2025
Can VR training create real stress for real-world police decisions?
Hunter Martaindale discusses ALERRT Center research examining whether virtual reality scenarios can trigger stress responses comparable to live training, and where VR can — and can’t — replace hands-on physical skills training. [Listen]
Trainer’s Bullpen · Episode 39 · October 15, 2024
VR Training Elicits Similar Stress Response as Scenario-Based Training
Hunter Martaindale discusses research findings showing that virtual reality-based training produces stress responses comparable to traditional scenario-based training — with implications for how agencies can use VR to prepare officers for high-stakes situations. [Watch on YouTube]