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
How can officers, courts, and communities recognize the difference between de-escalation and “realistic” de-escalation? It starts by admitting a few realities. First, officers have been successfully talking people out of fights and into handcuffs for generations. They are good at it. And, no matter what study is reviewed, force (even the threat of force) is...Read More
A new study headed by an Advanced Force Science Specialist finds that an officer who confronts a subject in the throes of excited delirium stands nearly a 90% chance of ending up on the ground in a struggle with potentially serious consequences. The more symptoms of excited delirium a subject exhibits, the greater his likelihood...Read More
In reporting another new study of excited delirium, researcher Dr. Darrell Ross offers additional insights for improving the safety of officers and subjects alike in these fraught confrontations. The goal is not to train or expect officers to make clinical diagnoses in the field as psychiatric experts, Ross says. “But providing them with research findings...Read More
Prison employees have a rate of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder roughly equivalent to war veterans who’ve served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to newly reported findings from a study in Washington State. Nearly one-fifth (19%) of prison workers surveyed “reported symptoms that were severe enough to be diagnosed as PTSD”—a rate six times higher than...Read More
Two more new books that hit our desk recently focus on survival, but against life threats of a very different nature. One offers strategies for prevailing against the “hidden” dangers of a law enforcement career, the “true killers” of cops. The other concerns using deadly force to win out against a violent attacker. Read…learn…live! 1....Read More
An innovative medical treatment facility, exclusively for LEOs burdened by substance abuse, stress overload, marital problems, or other wellness-threatening issues, is scheduled to open within the next few months, not far from the Force Science Training headquarters in a Chicago suburb. Dubbed St. Michael’s House, after the archangel patron of warriors, the special, nondenominational facility...Read More
A U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that LEOs have no obligation to transport delusional subjects to a hospital instead of to jail in the absence of evidence of special medical risks. A three-judge panel in the 6th appellate circuit last month reversed a lower court that had denied qualified immunity and summary judgment to...Read More
Two informative documents related to use-of-force issues have been posted for free access online by the nonprofit, police training and advocacy group, Americans for Effective Law Enforcement. 1. A 60-page article on police confrontations with armed, violent, and mentally ill subjects. The author, staff editor of the Whittier Law Review, points out that persons with...Read More
Do LEOs have to make special accommodations when confronting violent, life-threatening mentally ill suspects in order to avoid violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act? That question is scheduled for a decision in the coming weeks by the U.S. Supreme Court. And if the answer is yes, warns an attorney team involved in the case,...Read More
