Preview reports on Force Science research findings regarding the public’s perceptions of police use of force, the retention rates of physical skills training, and the nature of unintentional discharges were showcased recently at major professional conferences in California and Minnesota. Thumbnail summaries: Civilian beliefs about use of force by police are often shockingly far from...Read More
As a veteran officer approaching a traffic violator, would you notice a gun lying in plain sight on the dashboard of a vehicle you’ve detained for running a stop sign? Before too quickly thinking “of course,” consider the findings of a new study of the phenomenon known as “inattentional blindness.” That term refers to the...Read More
A Force Science research team has completed an update of its ongoing analysis of unintentional firearms discharges by LEOs in the US and Canada. We reported on the initial phase of the team’s work in a previous Force Science News, when the researchers had studied 137 UD occurrences. Now 171 additional instances have been analyzed,...Read More
After a half-naked man in the throes of excited delirium died following a struggle with sheriff’s deputies, his widow alleged in a federal civil rights legal action that: the officers should not have used any force against him until they first attempted de-escalation techniques; their “excessive” force-first actions violated legal protections for the disabled and...Read More
Two more new books that hit our desk recently focus on survival, but against life threats of a very different nature. One offers strategies for prevailing against the “hidden” dangers of a law enforcement career, the “true killers” of cops. The other concerns using deadly force to win out against a violent attacker. Read…learn…live! 1....Read More
When it comes to suspects who die in law enforcement settings, street cops, investigators, administrators, police lawyers, and medical examiners can probably all agree on one thing: investigating such events, in the words of one research team, is a “perilous and a slippery slope.” An excellent new book—Guidelines for Investigating Officer-Involved Shootings, Arrest-Related Deaths, and...Read More
Most of Dr. Kroll’s presentation at the use-of-force conference (see: previous FSN) dealt with persistent myths about the alleged electrical dangers of CEWs, particularly claims that these control weapons can cause electrocution and fatal heart disruptions. The world’s most prolific inventor of cardiac-related medical devices, Kroll is renowned as one of the top international authorities...Read More
Officers in Texas responding to a 911 call discovered a middle-aged Hispanic sitting in his car outside his house, holding a cigarette lighter as he poured gasoline on himself and threatened to set himself on fire. For months he’d talked of suicide by burning. This day he’d doused his home with fuel and, he said,...Read More
EDITOR’S NOTE: Last September in a volatile case that drew international attention, Betty Shelby, a white police officer in Tulsa, OK, was charged with first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting an uncooperative black man she thought was reaching into his SUV for a gun to use against her. No weapon was found, and Shelby was accused...Read More
Part 1 of a 2-part report Police Atty. Scott Wood was absorbed in his son’s high school football game that Friday night, so he missed the two calls to his cell phone until half time. Then he listened to the voice mails that hurled him into one of the nation’s most explosive officer-involved shootings. A...Read More
