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Use of Force

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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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Force Science Validates Legacy Research Findings – Part II

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...
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Trainers as Police Practice and Human Factors Experts

This article was originally published in The ILEETA Journal | 2022 Winter Edition Volume 12 Edition 4 and is reprinted with permission. For membership information, visit www.ileeta.org/info-join/ In police use-of-force cases, understanding human factors allows us to identify the psychological, physiological, and environmental conditions that can influence decision-making, performance, and even memory.  The goal is to...
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Top Medical Experts Explore Safety of Vascular Neck Restraints. Will Their Findings Matter?

Editor’s Note: The full study is available here – Safety of Vascular Neck Restraint Applied by Law Enforcement Officers In 2021 federal politicians concluded that both chokeholds and carotid restraints – also known as vascular neck restraints (VNR) — were inherently dangerous and had “too often led to tragedy.” With this pronouncement, federal law enforcement...
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New Study: Stress, Training, and the Objective Reasonableness Standard

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...
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I’m Right. You’re Wrong: Naïve Realism in Force Reviews

You’re teaching your child to tie their shoes for the first time. With your parent’s help, you’ve long since mastered the task—you were a brilliant, model student. Now it’s your turn. With your clear, expert instructions, your child will understand and perform flawlessly. For good measure, you repeat your instructions, your child nodding in agreement....
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Watching Video Evidence Before Providing a Use of Force Statement

(Editor’s note 3/28/2022: This article was edited to acknowledge the competing approaches to video review during use of force investigations, update citations, and clarify the IACP’s 2014 model policy language and position paper. Force Science recognizes that the memory-enhancing value of watching videos must be balanced against the risk of memory corruption and the need...
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New Study: Excited Delirium, Injury, and Use of Force

A new study led by Simon Baldwin1 examined over 10,700 use of force cases and found a significant risk of adverse outcomes in cases involving excited delirium syndrome (ExDS).2 Researchers assumed that an encounter with someone exhibiting probable ExDS might result in adverse outcomes, including greater levels of force and increased risk of injury to...
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