The latest time-and-motion study from the Force Science Research Center offers investigators and prosecutors a new tool to apply to officer-involved shootings and other threat encounters and presents trainers with a challenge in improving their students’ firearms skills. The study’s core findings are captured in a unique grid chart that you can download and print...Read More
Is it true that an old standard of first aid training—attending to Airway, Breathing, and Circulation (bleeding) in that order when treating injured parties—is now obsolete? In a report about downed-officer rescues published in Force Science News [Transmission sent 3/16/09], Dr. Matthew Sztajnkrycer contended that when caring for downed officers, ABC should be reversed to...Read More
Two recent federal court rulings supporting officers’ decision-making in force encounters are reported in the latest “Case Notes and Publications” email from Americans for Effective Law Enforcement, the nonprofit organization that monitors and assists with litigation of interest to LEOs and their agencies. 1. In Lewis v. City of West Palm Beach, et al., 5...Read More
Surprising preliminary results from a survey about responses to downed-officer rescues suggest it may be more practical to modify training and equipment related to this high-intensity field challenge than to try changing officers’ instinctive responses. “Officers appear to view risk in this situation very differently than would be predicted based on studies of risk in...Read More
Fascinating experiments by 2 California researchers show that young civilians who might someday be on an OIS jury overwhelmingly disagree with veteran officers about when police are justified in shooting armed, threatening perpetrators. Interestingly, tests also reveal that when facing shoot/don’t shoot decisions of their own, civilians tend to be quick on the trigger—and often...Read More
Editor’s note: Our strategic partner, PoliceOne.com, recently ran the following article in which Force Science Advisor Chuck Remsberg is quoted. As Chuck points out, although times are tight financially, it’s important to remember that there are some things—like training—that are crucial and necessary, regardless of economic conditions. Reputations, careers and lives can depend on it....Read More
Force Science to bring unique new research-based police driving training to a computer screen near you. A new collaboration between the Force Science Research Center and the producer of ground-breaking computerized training programs could soon radically alter the way officers learn to drive on high-speed pursuits, Code 3 calls, and conventional patrol. “The results will...Read More
Strong skepticism has been expressed by the Force Science Research Center regarding a recently publicized survey showing that a high percentage of emergency room doctors believe they see evidence of police brutality in the patients they treat. The poll, published in Emergency Medicine Journal, reports that 99.8% of ER physicians responding to a random-sample survey...Read More
Reading mere statistics, even on a subject as vital as officer-involved shootings, can glaze your eyes after awhile. So it’s refreshing—and valuable—to come upon an in-depth treatment of deadly force that adds flesh and bones to stark numbers. Such is a fascinating new book, Pulling the Trigger: A 25-Year Study of Deadly Force Encounters by...Read More
Force Science States Its Case Some months ago, officers responded to a single-car accident on a freeway in a major midwestern city. As they tried to tend to and question the driver, he became unruly and earned himself a Tasering. Later, he died. As customary in that jurisdiction, a state investigative agency took over the...Read More
