®

A founding partner of the Force Science Institute, Patricia Thiem brings a full range of administrative experiences with her that have helped grow Force Science into one of the nation’s leading authorities on the use of force by law enforcement. After working with Dr. Bill Lewinski for years, she began focusing full-time at Force Science in July 2006. Prior to making the transition, she worked as the Human Resource Manager at MRCI-WorkSource, a private, non-profit organization, that helps individuals with disabilities find opportunities.

Dr. Bill Lewinski, Executive Director

Dr. Lewinski is a behavioral scientist specializing in law enforcement related issues. He has a Ph.D. in police psychology and is a Professor Emeritus at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he has taught for nearly three decades. He is the founder and director of The Force Science Institute, which is also based in Mankato. The Institute brings together experts from a wide variety of academic and research disciplines to study officer behavior in force encounters.

Dr. Lewinski is conducting the leading research on human behavior in force encounters. His current focus is on action/reaction parameters, perception, attention & memory and judgment. His research has been published in national law enforcement publications, websites and e-news lines. This research has been highlighted on 48 Hours Investigates and the BBC's Panorama. His most recent studies involved a technologically sophisticated investigation into the perceptual and psychological factors that impact an officer’s reaction time.

Dr. Lewinski has trained in Goju Karate since 1967. He is a regional director and on the national board of examiners with Goju Kai, Karate Do, U.S.A

Patricia Thiem, Chief Operating Officer

Scott Buhrmaster, Vice President of Operations

Scott Buhrmaster began his association with Force Science in 2004 when he was appointed to the organization’s National Advisory Board. His involvement with the law enforcement training community began in 1989 when he joined Calibre Press, Inc.,  producers of the Street Survival Seminar, as Director of Research. Throughout his tenure at Calibre, Buhrmaster was involved with all aspects of the company’s training efforts, including participating in the creation and marketing of the organization’s award-winning textbooks and videos to helping to develop and secure proprietary training content for the seminar. In 1995, he was named Director of the Calibre Press Street Survival Newsline, an Internet-based law enforcement training service he helped found. In less than five years, Newsline readership grew from 25 officers to more than 250,000 in 26 countries, making it one of the most popular training vehicles in law enforcement history.

Following a decade at Calibre, Buhrmaster launched a consulting practice that served a wide variety of clients in the law enforcement training sector and the publishing industry. After several years in private practice Buhrmaster joined PoliceOne.com, the law enforcement division of the Praetorian Group, where he served as Vice President of the Training and Editorial Divisions as well as General Manager of Calibre Press after Praetorian took ownership of the company. In addition, Buhrmaster has served as Publisher of Police Marksman magazine as well as Contributing Editor for Law Officer magazine. His work has appeared in numerous other law enforcement publications as well.