Safety Resources

In a unique production assisted by the Force Science Institute, law enforcement authorities in an Oregon county have created an online video that explains to civilians the realities of officer-involved shootings and counters prevalent myths fostered by Hollywood fantasies.

I. New study confirms health/safety dangers of LEOs' poor sleep
II. AELE: Beware the legal risks of spreading gory scene photos
III. %$!# the pain: Latest research on the benefit of foul language
IV. Should civilian shooters get the same treatment as OIS survivors?

I. A first for the Certification Course...and other training notes.
II. Is prone positioning really riskier for suspects? No, says new study
II. New expert report on excited delirium stresses 4-point protocol

I. AELE analysis: When force against the mentally disturbed is justified
II. Correction & elaboration on prone positioning study report
III. Full excited delirium report now available free online
IV. How are you keeping the edge as you age? Trainer needs your help
V. University lecture series to honor FSI's Lewinski

Vascular neck restraint: Reprieve for a bum-rapped technique. For the first time, a scientific research team has used modern technology to confirm just how a vascular neck restraint works to produce unconsciousness. The findings emphatically refute assertions that this valuable control technique is inherently dangerous and potentially lethal.

I. Police attorney offers "best practices" tips to civil rights overseers
II. New project seeks to "unleash respect" in police subculture

Hitting our inbox: Readers react to post-OIS recommendations. The recommendations regarding OIS investigations from police attorney John Hoag to the DOJ's civil rights overseers, which we reported in Force Science News Transmission #199 [3/9/12], has stirred a spirited response from our readers.

Will Indiana's self-defense measure mean "open season" on cops? You may have heard of the bill passed recently by the Indiana General Assembly that gives citizens the right to physically resist--even with deadly force--any LEO they "reasonably believe" is unlawfully entering their dwelling or is about to cause them injury.

New! Force Science seeks answers to sudden vehicle stop attacks! Field research on a groundbreaking new study on vehicle stop safety has been completed by the Force Science Institute, with specific pointers on how officers can better protect themselves from sudden shooting attacks expected by the end of summer.

I. What's your experience with controlling bleeding in the field? Take the survey.
II. Wanted: Policies requiring expert review of use-of-force videos
III. Insights from FSN readers

The widespread adoption of conducted energy devices (CEDs) across American police departments over the last decade has been mired in public controversy. It is generally accepted, from a police perspective, that CEDs are safer for officers who can use the weapon at a greater distance, avoiding much of the harm associated with close physical struggles with citizens. Research has generally supported the notion that aggregate levels of officer injuries are reduced following the implementation of CEDs. Unfortunately, multivariate examinations that, in varying degrees, have attempted to compare CED applications to other forms of force (while controlling for rival causal factors) have yet to produce the same consistent results as the preandpost-CED adoption studies..

I. Doubts raised about certain reaction-time training exercises.
II. New free site offers case-by-case details of Taser court decisions

The authors report the policy and training recommendation derived from a comprehensive national study that examined conductive energy device (CED) use, resulting injuries, departmental policies and training, and reports from officers, trainers, and suspects, concerning CED incidents. The overall purpose of the national project was to examine CED use from a variety of methods....

While a considerable body of research has investigated the physiological risks associated with the TASER device, much less research attention has been devoted to examining the nearly 400 police–citizen encounters in which a suspect has died after the device was used. As a result, there are numerous unanswered questions regarding officer, suspect, and incident-level characteristics of these arrest-related deaths (ARDs), as well as the extent to which patterns in these characteristics may have changed over time...

This study examines the extent to which injuries to police officers have changed from 1996-1998 to 2006-2008. Data were obtained from injury reports filed by sworn officers of the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Police Department. Results indicated that the frequency and rate (injury incidents per officer) of officer assaults, other suspect-related injuries, and accidents declined during the study period. While the specification of the reasons for these changes remains a topic for future research, the decline in assaults and suspect-related injuries may well be a function of the increased availability and more routine use of less lethal technology, enhanced training, and the more common use of protective equipment...