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Force Science Institute

Dealing with people in crisis is difficult. The only things a police officer can control are the decisions they make and the tactics they use
A new study concludes that officers tend not to be biased against black suspects in resorting to deadly force, even when fatigued and thus potentially more vulnerable to making angry, irrational, and impulsive decisions
Despite the hyperbolic media coverage of late most arrests are effected with verbal communication alone, with deadly force by police an extreme rarity
Some positions and movements are better than others but you can’t depend solely on positioning to save your life on a traffic stop
Critics of the McKinney cop who say he never should have used force against that bikini-clad teen should be reminded that she could have avoided any force had she simply complied with lawful commands
In real-life confrontations, TASERs are effective in incapacitating actively resistant suspects over 90 percent of the time, compared to a success rate of less than 75 percent for pepper spray, according to a new study by two associate professors in criminal justice
Researchers have published a 15-point survey template that they have used successfully and that can serve as a model in other jurisdictions to mine officer perceptions before cameras are introduced
The St. Louis Police Officers Association invited about 60 elected officials to a day of immersion training in hopes of opening their eyes and minds to the realities behind the badge
Ever notice how a picket fence along the road appears to be racing by at a blur immediately to your three or nine o’clock, but that same fence directly ahead of you barely appears to be moving at all? This is an illustration of how the eyes and brain use motion to assist us in judging speed and distance, including issues of “looming”
Left out of all of the so-called analysis in the mainstream media in the aftermath of the Ferguson OIS is any real examination of the science of human performance during rapidly-unfolding, high-stress events
The findings of a new study, obtained under stressful but nonthreatening laboratory conditions, comprise a starting point for understanding the human dynamics involved in promptly concluding a shooting episode
Recently, Force Science News sat down with FSI executive director Dr. Bill Lewinski to explore this persistent controversy — here are highlights of that conversation, explaining in detail why the Force Science Institute supports delayed interviewing
The controversy over prone positioning has raged in the policing community since the 1980s
When then exposed to a simulated gunbattle, the mental imagers consistently out-performed the others, whose targeting skills under fire tended to erode significantly from their “normal” level of accuracy
How can an officer can best help a lawyer in preparing the strongest defense possible after an OIS or other major force confrontation? Here are six ideas to get the discussion going.