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
Policing is partly characterized by the specialized knowledge and practice that it brings to problem-solving, conflict resolution, and risk management. Policing borrows extensively from other disciplines, including law, psychology, social work, medicine, and motor learning. Maintaining possession of this specialized and integrated body of knowledge is challenging and requires the police to engage in extended...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
Training for the Real-World The law enforcement profession has long been characterized by highly specialized education and training requirements. Society’s expectation that police effectively develop, maintain, and update their skills echoes the profession’s own commitment to never-ending improvement. To determine how well these expectations were being met, and to identify promising practices for training excellence,...Read More
