Enter the police profession and risk higher divorce rates, alcoholism, suicide, PTSD, and early death. At least that’s what they told us at the academy. I’m not convinced this is actually the case, but it is easy to believe when we watch fellow officers gain weight, lose health, drink more, sleep less, increase cynicism, and...Read More
A research team headed by a certified Force Science Analyst has explored an important concern that may be overlooked in typical field-medicine training for LEOs: How much extra stress is inflicted on an officer who needs to apply a tourniquet to a severely injured colleague? This question was investigated recently in Scottsdale, AZ, with the...Read More
“Policing,” writes Dr. John Violanti, one of the leading researchers of law enforcement stress, “is psychologically stressful work filled with danger, high demands, ambiguity in encounters, human misery, and exposure to death.” And that may be the least of its dark side. “Law enforcement is one of a number of often stressful professions that has...Read More
Dispatchers can be the forgotten first responders when it comes to departmental concerns about the psychological well-being of service personnel. Yet they experience many of the same traumatic reactions to critical incidents and cumulative stress as police officers. Dr. Michelle Lilly and research associate Heather Pierce of Northern Illinois University have conducted what is believed...Read More
A prominent medical researcher has launched a landmark study he hopes will change the grim facts that LEOs have a higher incidence of illness and death related to cardiovascular disease than the general population, and suffer unnecessary musculoskeletal injuries and disabilities. With the help of 2 sheriff’s offices and 2 police departments in the Pacific...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
Do police officers who are highly adept at dealing with violent situations visually assess potentially threatening scenes in a different way than less skillful officers? Studies of the “eye movements and gaze control patterns” of professional vs. amateur athletes suggest that may be the case, and a unique research project just launched by the Force...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
Researchers have now identified a specific brain chemical that appears to influence how well you’ll perform under stress and how emotionally resilient you’ll be after a critical incident. The more you have of this powerful ingredient, called neuropeptide Y (NPY), the better off you’ll likely be when your life is on the line. “Maybe somewhere...Read More
How can an officer in a gunfight be looking at their sights and not see and respond instantly to a change in a subject’s behavior? Why couldn’t the officer see the other person? He has to be lying when he said he didn’t see the person drop the gun! Why can’t he tell us how...Read More
