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Deadly Force Encounters: Cops and Citizens Defending Themselves and Others
In 1997, renown police psychologist Dr. Alexis Artwohl and police officer Loren W. Christensen (co-author of On Combat) wrote Deadly Force What Cops Need to Know to Mentally and Physically Prepare for and Survive a Gunfight. It quickly became an authoritative book for police officers, citizens legally carrying a concealed firearm, and police academies.
The greatly expanded scientific research, stories, and analysis in this second edition, Deadly Force Cops and Citizens Defending Themselves and Others, focus on the most infrequent but most challenging part of the police the use of deadly force. This book is not about specific laws, tactics, or equipment, but how the science of human performance influences the people behind the badge. This knowledge is crucial for physical, legal, and emotional survival.
Citizens, armed or not, will benefit from the information to help them survive violent threats. "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away." If citizens use deadly force to survive, this book will help them prepare for the legal and emotional challenges of the aftermath.
Although the focus is about savings lives when threatened with violence, much of the information is relevant to people facing a wide variety of extreme events and everyday dangers.
All readers who want facts about violent encounters rather than myth and ill-informed hyperbole will find this book a useful reference.
Foreward by Laurence Miller, Ph.D., clinical, forensic, and police psychologist, and author of the upcoming The Psychology of Police Deadly Force Science, Practice, and Policy (Charles C. Thomas, 2020): "Already a classic, the second edition of Deadly Force Encounters expands and deepens the empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge base of police deadly force encounters for the challenges of the 21st century. Written by co-authors who skillfully combine in-depth scholarship with on-the-street experience, this is an authoritative guide that every law enforcement supervisor, policymaker, and rank and file cop should be familiar with and have on hand for day-to-day guidance. You won't just read this book; you'll deploy it as a vital work tool to make you safer, smarter, and more resilient in the complex and sometimes contentious climate of modern policing. In a field often plagued with subjective impressions, anecdotal mythology, and political agendas, this volume stands out as a science-based, practical guide to understanding, preparing for, enduring, and recovering from a law enforcement deadly force encounter with your safety and sanity intact."
Introduction
Chapter 1: Shootout with the Devil
Chapter 2: The Survival Triangle
Chapter 3: Community Policing
Chapter 4: Human Performance Factors
Chapter 5: Mindset
Chapter 6: Fear
Chapter 7: Responses to Handgun Wounds are Unpredictable
Chapter 8: Force Multipliers
Chapter 9: Attention, Perception, and Memory
Chapter 10: Decision making
Chapter 11: The Survival Bias in Decision making
Chapter 12: Training
Chapter 13: Legal Survival
Chapter 14: Investigations and the Courtroom
Chapter 15: Short-term Reactions to a Deadly Force Encounter
Chapter 16: Traumatic Stress Reactions
Chapter 17: Police Officer Job Stress
Chapter 18: Organizational Stress
Chapter 19: Resiliency
Chapter 20: Impact on Families
Bibliography
About the Authors
The greatly expanded scientific research, stories, and analysis in this second edition, Deadly Force Cops and Citizens Defending Themselves and Others, focus on the most infrequent but most challenging part of the police the use of deadly force. This book is not about specific laws, tactics, or equipment, but how the science of human performance influences the people behind the badge. This knowledge is crucial for physical, legal, and emotional survival.
Citizens, armed or not, will benefit from the information to help them survive violent threats. "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away." If citizens use deadly force to survive, this book will help them prepare for the legal and emotional challenges of the aftermath.
Although the focus is about savings lives when threatened with violence, much of the information is relevant to people facing a wide variety of extreme events and everyday dangers.
All readers who want facts about violent encounters rather than myth and ill-informed hyperbole will find this book a useful reference.
Foreward by Laurence Miller, Ph.D., clinical, forensic, and police psychologist, and author of the upcoming The Psychology of Police Deadly Force Science, Practice, and Policy (Charles C. Thomas, 2020): "Already a classic, the second edition of Deadly Force Encounters expands and deepens the empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge base of police deadly force encounters for the challenges of the 21st century. Written by co-authors who skillfully combine in-depth scholarship with on-the-street experience, this is an authoritative guide that every law enforcement supervisor, policymaker, and rank and file cop should be familiar with and have on hand for day-to-day guidance. You won't just read this book; you'll deploy it as a vital work tool to make you safer, smarter, and more resilient in the complex and sometimes contentious climate of modern policing. In a field often plagued with subjective impressions, anecdotal mythology, and political agendas, this volume stands out as a science-based, practical guide to understanding, preparing for, enduring, and recovering from a law enforcement deadly force encounter with your safety and sanity intact."
Introduction
Chapter 1: Shootout with the Devil
Chapter 2: The Survival Triangle
Chapter 3: Community Policing
Chapter 4: Human Performance Factors
Chapter 5: Mindset
Chapter 6: Fear
Chapter 7: Responses to Handgun Wounds are Unpredictable
Chapter 8: Force Multipliers
Chapter 9: Attention, Perception, and Memory
Chapter 10: Decision making
Chapter 11: The Survival Bias in Decision making
Chapter 12: Training
Chapter 13: Legal Survival
Chapter 14: Investigations and the Courtroom
Chapter 15: Short-term Reactions to a Deadly Force Encounter
Chapter 16: Traumatic Stress Reactions
Chapter 17: Police Officer Job Stress
Chapter 18: Organizational Stress
Chapter 19: Resiliency
Chapter 20: Impact on Families
Bibliography
About the Authors
546 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 1997
135 people are currently reading
228 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 20, 2018
This is highly recommend to every Warrior who may have to use deadly force during a lethal encounter.
April 29, 2021
Book review
A great read for any law enforcement or armed security types to read and understand and should be mandatory reading policy writers who supervise them!!
A great read for any law enforcement or armed security types to read and understand and should be mandatory reading policy writers who supervise them!!
Want to read
February 20, 2024Included on The Cornered Cat's good books:
On The Active Response Training's recommended reading.
Don’t let the word “cop” in the title fool you—this book is as relevant to you as an armed citizen as it is to law enforcement officers. In it, you’ll find crucial information about the effects of sudden stress on the human body, and learn ways to use that stress to help you fight and win against a determined attacker.
On The Active Response Training's recommended reading.
February 9, 2010
Written with those who may have to use lethal force clearly in mind. Therefore goes through the typical consequences faced by those who, let's face it, have to kill someone in the line of duty.
Therefore naturally factual and pragmatic and highly interesting even for those of us who, hopefully, never find ourselves in this position.
Therefore naturally factual and pragmatic and highly interesting even for those of us who, hopefully, never find ourselves in this position.
July 28, 2015
Another book I read while researching my book,debarred the use of Arms.
This book was recommended to me by Lt Col Grossman .and it does contain a wealth of information gleaned from debriefing Offices involved in deadly force situations.
If you carry a gun as part of you lifestyle then this book is a real eye opener.
This book was recommended to me by Lt Col Grossman .and it does contain a wealth of information gleaned from debriefing Offices involved in deadly force situations.
If you carry a gun as part of you lifestyle then this book is a real eye opener.
January 19, 2020
Should be read by anyone who carries a gun.
Cops and unsworn citizen carriers alike should read this book. So much good info here. I'll be recommending it to others on my department and rereading it.
Cops and unsworn citizen carriers alike should read this book. So much good info here. I'll be recommending it to others on my department and rereading it.
February 23, 2020
The 1st edition was a must read....this edition even more so in today's world of policing.
Great source of vital information for those who wish to understand law enforcement and it's challenges. Thoughtful, insightful and well resourced.
Great source of vital information for those who wish to understand law enforcement and it's challenges. Thoughtful, insightful and well resourced.
Currently reading
October 12, 2010re reading
December 26, 2019
I was a bit disappointed in this 2nd edition. I would have liked less stories and more indepth science. Still, a useful resource.
January 17, 2016
A great book which discusses what to expect and how to train for deadly force encounters.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews