Editor’s Note: Studying performance errors in policing can be difficult for researchers who cannot ethically replicate the dangerous conditions present in lethal force encounters. To overcome this limitation, researchers routinely consider evidence derived from other professions and industries (e.g., aerospace (Airbus), aeronautics (NASA), pharmaceutical, occupational safety and health, medical, industrial engineering, and transportation). Recent events...Read More
Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute, sees clearly the “clinical” nature of law enforcement and the need for excellent decision-making: “The police world is just like other clinical professions. Officers must engage in educated assessments, decisions, and interventions.” Dr. Lewinski explained: “Before the police act, before any intervention, there is a...Read More
With their latest book, Deadly Force Encounters, Second Edition, Dr. Alexis Artwohl and Loren W. Christensen present the much-anticipated update to their groundbreaking 1997 publication. Still focused on preparing cops “to mentally and physically prepare for and survive a gunfight,” the authors’ second edition is thoughtfully expanded to include civilians who may suddenly find themselves...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
In her timely two and a half hour presentation, Dr. Lois James, one of the nation’s leading law enforcement researchers, shares what science has to say about the contentious subject of racial bias among police. Among the pressing questions she will approach are: Are law enforcement officers influenced by racial bias but don’t know it?...Read More
Trained by Hollywood to expect that a single round is enough to fatally wound a threatening suspect, noncops may question OISs in which multiple shots were fired. Why did officers fire so many rounds? Why was the suspect shot after already falling to the ground? Why did some bullets hit him in the back? For...Read More
In “fast-paced situations with uncertain outcomes and imperfect information,” good decision-making is “significantly hampered” by sleep deprivation, according to a new study by researchers from Washington State University and the University of Melbourne, Australia. Police officers, soldiers, disaster management personnel, and other emergency responders whose lives–and the lives of others–may depend on their ability to...Read More
A flashpoint of controversy in some officer-involved shootings is when officers do not immediately cease fire the moment a deadly threat ends and they are no longer in mortal danger. An officer’s ability to instantly stop pulling the trigger once a “stop shooting” signal becomes evident is not always considered. Instead, the officer behind the...Read More
A new study clearly documents a “significant and important” trend in federal courts to consider the physiological and psychological impact of stress on officer performance in cases alleging excessive force and inadequate training. “This finding,” says Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute, “is very encouraging to those of us who have...Read More
A research team that includes two former Force Science Certification Course instructors has called on the academic community to launch more studies of why officers overwhelmingly show more restraint than legally necessary when faced with deadly force decisions. In a previous Force Science News [8/15/12] we reported a law enforcement survey of 1,189 police encounters...Read More
