On any given fall Saturday, Daniel Richard may be found officiating in one of fourteen historic Big Ten football stadiums. Ranging from Piscataway, New Jersey, to Lincoln, Nebraska, Daniel, a Head Line Judge, joins a team of eight officials charged with safeguarding the integrity of each game. To perform at this level, these officials must...Read More
Following a high-intensity event, should officers be allowed to recover before being interviewed? In 2014, Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute, sat down with Force Science News1 to explain why he recommends a 48-hour minimum recovery period: “This is the general conclusion from some 20 years of scientific research on sleep...Read More
Editor’s Note: Knowing how hard an officer hit somebody with a baton and for how long can be critical questions in a use of force case. Join Dr. Geoffrey Desmoulin, a Certified Force Science Analyst and Principal of GTD Scientific Inc., as he describes how Force Science studies and GTD tactical baton research were applied...Read More
It is widely understood that the body can automatically prepare us to respond to threats. Not just actual threats, but those that are perceived or merely expected. Ideally, when this process is engaged, the nervous system is activated and we benefit from heightened senses, faster decision-making, improved mental function, and increased strength. But when this...Read More
New studies of the nature and challenges of multitasking have important implications about the safety of police driving, both on patrol and in high-speed pursuits, according to Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute. One research team, at the University of Utah, revisited the often-studied subject of cell phone use while driving—and...Read More
Can cops improve their on-job performance by visiting an art museum? Amy Herman, an art historian and lawyer, thinks so and her experiences with LEOs in New York City seem to prove it. As part of a 3-hour course for law enforcement she teaches called “The Art of Perception,” Herman leads officers from NYPD and...Read More
Part 1 of a 2-part series A major new study by the Force Science Research Center for the first time has identified exactly how the “gaze patterns” of officers who are likely to win gunfights differ from those who are likely to lose them. Winners, it is revealed, tend to anticipate an emerging threat sooner,...Read More
Final analysis of data gathered by the Force Science Research Center during a simulated shooting experiment has revealed important new findings about officers’ perceptions and recall that could bear significantly on OIS investigations. Among other things, the testing showed that: Officers tended to recount vastly more information about what happened when interviewed by investigators than...Read More
Pilot studies for 2 new research projects with significant officer-survival implications will get underway next month [12/07] at a new testing facility designed by the Force Science Research Center near the campus of Minnesota State University-Mankato. One study will seek to measure the time required for an “attentional shift” during a high-stress, potentially violent confrontation....Read More
