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Accelerated Heart Rates and Elite Performance

This Force Science News is a summary report of Dr. Bill Lewinski’s presentation to the Police Psychological Services Section at the 2023 International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in San Diego. The presentation covered: The myth that high levels of arousal will always impair performance; How attentional and cognitive workspace can affect performance under...
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Game Sense: Human Factors, Police, and College Football

On any given fall Saturday, Daniel Richard may be found officiating in one of fourteen historic Big Ten football stadiums. Ranging from Piscataway, New Jersey, to Lincoln, Nebraska, Daniel, a Head Line Judge, joins a team of eight officials charged with safeguarding the integrity of each game. To perform at this level, these officials must...
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Critical Incident Interviews: Is the 48-Hour Delay Still Good Advice?

Following a high-intensity event, should officers be allowed to recover before being interviewed? In 2014, Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute, sat down with Force Science News1 to explain why he recommends a 48-hour minimum recovery period: “This is the general conclusion from some 20 years of scientific research on sleep...
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Magnitude and Duration: How Science Measures Use of Force from BodyCam Video

Editor’s Note: Knowing how hard an officer hit somebody with a baton and for how long can be critical questions in a use of force case. Join Dr. Geoffrey Desmoulin, a Certified Force Science Analyst and Principal of GTD Scientific Inc., as he describes how Force Science studies and GTD tactical baton research were applied...
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New Study Tracks Officers’ Response to Stress During Calls for Service

It is widely understood that the body can automatically prepare us to respond to threats.  Not just actual threats, but those that are perceived or merely expected.  Ideally, when this process is engaged, the nervous system is activated and we benefit from heightened senses, faster decision-making, improved mental function, and increased strength. But when this...
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New Studies On Multitasking: What’s Your Risk From Brain Overload?

New studies of the nature and challenges of multitasking have important implications about the safety of police driving, both on patrol and in high-speed pursuits, according to Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute. One research team, at the University of Utah, revisited the often-studied subject of cell phone use while driving—and...
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Can You Sharpen Your Observation Skills By Studying Great Art?

Can cops improve their on-job performance by visiting an art museum? Amy Herman, an art historian and lawyer, thinks so and her experiences with LEOs in New York City seem to prove it. As part of a 3-hour course for law enforcement she teaches called “The Art of Perception,” Herman leads officers from NYPD and...
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Major New Study: How Your Eyes Can Cast Your Fate In A Gunfight (Part 1)

Part 1 of a 2-part series A major new study by the Force Science Research Center for the first time has identified exactly how the “gaze patterns” of officers who are likely to win gunfights differ from those who are likely to lose them. Winners, it is revealed, tend to anticipate an emerging threat sooner,...
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Stress & Memory: Important New Findings From FSRC Research

Final analysis of data gathered by the Force Science Research Center during a simulated shooting experiment has revealed important new findings about officers’ perceptions and recall that could bear significantly on OIS investigations. Among other things, the testing showed that: Officers tended to recount vastly more information about what happened when interviewed by investigators than...
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