How fast can someone point, shoot, and turn to run? In 2000, Force Science began to answer these questions when they published a summary of their research into the speed at which people can shoot and turn from various positions.1 This legacy Force Science research continues to provide some of the most influential human performance...Read More
In 2000, Force Science published Why is the Subject Shot in the Back?, a research summary detailing the speed at which people can shoot, turn, and move from various positions.1 For over 20 years, this Force Science research informed our understanding of deadly force encounters and that of police, communities, and courts worldwide. Advances in...Read More
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....Read More
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...Read More
Officers know that “hands kill” and that they should “watch the hands.” These well-founded concerns are what prompt demands for suspects to “show me your hands!” The irony is that an order to “show me your hands” or “take your hands out of your pockets” may invite the same movement from a compliant suspect as...Read More
“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...Read More
Yes. The 21-foot “rule” is back in the news. And if we’ve been doing our job as police trainers, most of you will be thinking, “It’s not a rule! It’s simply the principle that an average person can sprint 21 feet in roughly 1.5 seconds. Incidentally, that’s about the same time it takes an officer...Read More
