Every year, shootings tear through jurisdictions across the country. Too many go unsolved, not because law enforcement lacks the technology to solve them, but because the technology, the people, and the process behind it were never built to work together in the first place. But solving the shooting that already happened is only half the mission. What matters just as much is stopping the next one. That is where most agencies fall short, treating each shooting as an isolated event to close out instead of a data point in a cycle of violence that will keep repeating until someone disrupts it.
Stop Chasing Shooters is not another book about gun violence statistics. It is a field guide for the detective supervisor handed a task force and a problem, the analyst staring at data nobody is using, and the chief who knows something is broken but cannot name what.
Written by Ray Guidetti, the retired New Jersey State Police Lieutenant Colonel who helped build one of the nation's first statewide Crime Gun Intelligence programs from scratch, and Pete Gagliardi, a 50-year ATF veteran whose work across 24 countries shaped the international standard for ballistic intelligence, this book lays out the 13 essential elements every agency needs to move from reacting to shootings to disrupting the cycle before the next one happens. Drawing on real case studies, hard lessons from programs that failed, and Guidetti's own path from tactical operator to architect of a system now studied nationwide, Stop Chasing Shooters replaces guesswork with a blueprint.
This is not a policy paper, and it is not a pitch for any vendor or product. It is a practitioner's guide, written by someone who has stood in the room when the pressure was real and the stakes were higher than a budget line.
If you are ready to stop chasing shooters and start disrupting the cycle that produces the next one, this is where you start.
Drawing on more than five decades of experience in law enforcement, firearms investigations, forensic technology, and Crime Gun Intelligence, Pete Gagliardi explores what it takes to turn crime gun information into effective investigative action.
Perspectives on Crime Gun Intelligence examines the critical role of cross-jurisdictional teamwork, sound policies, sustainable investigative processes, and connected technologies in addressing violent firearm crime. Using the Sherpas of Nepal as a metaphor, Gagliardi emphasizes the need for experienced leaders who can navigate complex challenges, bridge information-sharing gaps, and guide diverse partners toward common public-safety goals.
This collection of thirty-nine articles, written for the RF Factor’s website and Substack, offers practical insights for law enforcement professionals, policymakers, forensic practitioners, technology providers, and others committed to strengthening crime gun intelligence and ensuring that critical information is not lost when it matters most.
At the heart of Pete Gagliardi’s The 13 Critical Tasks is a simple but powerful premise: every crime gun has the potential to yield information that, when properly recognized, collected, managed, and shared, can generate valuable investigative leads and help solve gun crimes. This “presumptive approach” challenges law enforcement to view every crime gun not merely as evidence, but as a potential source of actionable crime gun intelligence.
A 50-year law enforcement veteran and private-sector forensic technology executive, Gagliardi has worked across 24 countries and helped shape international standards and best practices for developing and sharing forensic ballistic intelligence.
His book organizes this complex mission into 13 critical tasks that depend upon a balance of people, processes, and technology. Drawing on effective practices from agencies across the United States and around the world, it presents practical solutions for strengthening investigations, reducing firearm-related crime, and advancing justice for victims, resolution for their loved ones, and safer communities.
Designed as both a comprehensive guide and a practical reference, The 13 Critical Tasks can be read cover to cover or consulted one task at a time. Whether building an integrated firearm crime-reduction strategy or improving a single investigative practice, it provides a clear roadmap for turning crime gun information into meaningful action.