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Reaction Time

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Training the Humanity Out of Cops (and Other Myths)

At Force Science, we periodically hear that perception and reaction time might apply to drivers, athletes, and pilots, but it does not apply to highly trained police officers when facing lethal threats. The theory, as I understand it, is that police officers have undergone specialized training that allows them to intensely focus on an armed...
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Research to Watch | Curb-Sitting: Evidence-based Tactic or Illusion of Safety?

Curb-Sitting “Do me a favor and have a seat on the curb until we figure this out.” Undoubtedly, many of you have either given or heard some version of this direction. The belief being that suspects sitting on the curb will have reduced mobility and thereby pose less of a threat than suspects left standing....
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New Assault Studies Ready for Publication

The Force Science Institute has completed three new studies on the speed and movements associated with armed assaults. Dr. Bill Lewinski explained: “The goal of our research was to obtain highly accurate measurements to further explore the findings of our earlier studies. Where we once measured movement speeds in the hundredths of a second, we...
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You Don’t Have to Shoot First; But You Better Do Something!

“The officer should have waited until he actually saw the suspect’s gun. If the suspect tried to shoot him, he could have shot first.” Anonymous The above quote didn’t come from an angry anti-police protestor or a biased civil rights attorney.  It came from a police legal advisor.  It came from an intelligent, civic-minded, pro-police...
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Why So Many Shots In An OIS? A FS Advanced Specialist Explains

Trained by Hollywood to expect that a single round is enough to fatally wound a threatening suspect, noncops may question OISs in which multiple shots were fired. Why did officers fire so many rounds? Why was the suspect shot after already falling to the ground? Why did some bullets hit him in the back? For...
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With Insights From Force Science Graduate, Deputy Found Not Guilty Of Manslaughter Charge

Part of an ongoing series on real-world successes The shooting was predictably controversial: A sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a black man with a master’s degree in telecommunications, a steady job at an advertising agency, no criminal record, and a history of mental illness, who was carrying home an unloaded air rifle he’d just bought at...
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Force Science Gradudate Briefs Grand Jury On Action/Reaction Realities

Part of an ongoing series on real-world successes At the talking stage, the plan to bust a crew of Florida home invaders worked perfectly. An undercover detective from the Broward County SO who had infiltrated the group would call the five suspects to a warehouse to map out their next job, the robbery and possible...
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Suspects On A Curb: Are You As Safe As You May Think?

As a street cop and as a trainer, Duane Wolfe has seen and used the tactic many times: officers positioning an unrestrained subject on a curb with his legs configured to delay him in launching a physical attack. Some have the suspect extend his legs straight out. Others order his ankles crossed. Still others prefer...
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Cops Hesitate More, Err Less When Shooting Black Suspects, Study Finds

With the turmoil in Ferguson (MO) the latest example, activists and many reporters would have us believe that police officers are prejudicially trigger happy when dealing with black suspects. But a scientific study from Washington State University-Spokane suggests just the opposite. In truth, according to findings from the research team’s innovative experiments: Officers were less...
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Doubts Raised About Certain Reaction-Time Training Exercises

Are some training exercises that focus on reaction time unintentionally compromising officer safety on the street? Two instructors raised that concern recently in separate presentations at the annual conference of the International Law Enforcement Educators & Trainers Assn. (ILEETA). Larry Hahn, a certified Force Science Analyst, told of detecting what seem to be unnaturally slow...
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