It is well-settled that a police officer’s use of force must be reasonable. It is equally well-established that reasonableness is to be judged from the perspective of the officer on the scene. This “on scene” perspective properly requires agencies and courts to consider the influences that emotional arousal and stressors, like time compression, may have...Read More
Originally published at Law Officer. Republished here with permission. With 30 years in law enforcement (and as a voracious advocate for training), there isn’t much I haven’t seen. Unfortunately, through the years, I have walked away disappointed from highly touted training courses more times than I care to count. So, when the opportunity came to...Read More
In 2015, the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) began the National Certification Program for law enforcement continuing education. In partnership with 36 states, IADLEST employs more than 200 experts to review and validate proposed law enforcement training. With certification standards that exceed individual state requirements, IADLEST-certified training has been...Read More
When faced with violence, the police are expected to quickly conduct accurate threat assessments and respond with decisive, measured, and effective use of force. The foundation of this consistent, high-level performance is the ability to operate at the optimal level of arousal; that place between too relaxed and too amped up. Now a growing body...Read More