Archive for July, 2010
Force Science News #155: The Fatigue Threshold…an officer’s worst nightmare + update on active shooter response
Editor’s note: In addition to our five-day Force Science Certification Courses, we offer an outstanding two-day Force Science Training Program that agencies can purchase for their own officers as well as those from surrounding areas. For details, please e-mail training@forcescience.org.
In this edition:
I. The Fatigue Threshold…an officer’s worst nightmare
II. Update on “rapid mass murder” and single-officer response
I. The Fatigue Threshold: You’re out of gas and the suspect is still out of control—“a cop’s worst nightmare”
After nearly 3 decades in law enforcement, Jeffry Johnson still remembers vividly a “hellacious” physical fight for his life as a young cop.
“I was called to a scene where a guy was banging on his girlfriend’s door, trying to break in,” he told Force Science News recently. “He was BIG…and on PCP. Six of us wrestled with him, trying to get his arms behind his back for cuffing.
“He thrashed around like a fire hose out of control. He got an arm free and grabbed my gun. I fought with everything I had to keep it in my holster.
Force Science News #154: Force Science explains “slips-and-capture errors” and other psychological phenomena that drove the fateful BART shooting
Two quick notes: Keep an eye out for the upcoming August issue of Law Officer magazine where you’ll see a feature on Force Science by popular police attorney and certified Force Science Analyst, Laura Scarry. In addition to our 5-day Certification Course which Laura recently completed, Force Science also offers 2-day courses that agencies and organizations can bring to their areas. For more information on these programs, please e-mail training@forcescience.org.
Force Science explains “slips-and-capture errors” and other psychological phenomena that drove the fateful BART shooting
Two expert witnesses with Force Science backgrounds are believed to have been influential in a jury’s recent decision to reject a murder conviction of a former transit officer accused of deliberately shooting an unarmed suspect in the back during a handcuffing scuffle.
The witnesses, Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute, and retired LAPD captain Greg Meyer, a certified Force Science Analyst, testified in detail how a combination of inadequate training and psychological stress phenomena most likely led to a tragic accident in which the officer mistakenly drew his sidearm instead of his X26 Taser while trying to restrain the struggling suspect. The prosecution had claimed the incident was one of intentional homicide by an out-of-control cop.
