Human Performance - Force Science

January 12, 2022

Law and Error: Should Mistakes Be Adjudicated in Criminal Courts?

Republished with Permission from InsiderAdvantage Georgia© | January 11, 2022 American law provides two distinct avenues, civil and criminal courts, to address culpable conduct, so when should a human error -an equivocal mistake- lead to a prison sentence? Weapon confusion cases turn the line between civil and criminal culpability into a chasm where lives hang...

December 8, 2021

New Research on Vision and Emotional Regulation for Effective Performance

Recent developments in cognitive, perceptual, and performance psychology may provide insights into how officers can improve decision-making, performance, and emotional effectiveness during critical incidents. In 2010 Force Science presented its findings from eye scan research conducted with Dr. Joan Vickers.1 In our research, we observed that, when compared to novice shooters, the experts perceived critical...

January 28, 2021

Police Progress: Moving Beyond Ideas, Intuition, and Theories

Ideally, police reform will involve the careful translation of research (knowledge) into practice. The American Society of Evidence-Based Policing recently made this case in Process for Translating Research to Practice, citing the requirement for collaboration between researchers and police practitioners.1 It’s this process that ensures reform proposals are not the product of untested ideas, intuition,...

November 25, 2020

Tell Me Exactly What You Heard

In our last article, Honest But Not Accurate, we rejected the idea that an officer’s memory was the equivalent of a video recorder. We cautioned that inconsistencies between an officer’s memory and a video recording could result from human performance factors and are not necessarily evidence of intentional deception. But even in cases without video...

October 9, 2020

The Science of Learning

The demand for evidence-based policing continues to create unprecedented opportunities to develop and improve professional policing standards. In support of this mission, the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) reached out to Dr. Bill Lewinski and the Force Science Institute for the latest research in police skill development and decision-making....

April 22, 2020

New Book: Deadly Force Encounters, Second Edition: Cops & Citizens Defending Themselves and Others

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...