Law Enforcement

I have spent over 20 years as a use of force expert testifying across Canada in internal investigations, criminal cases, civil lawsuits, coroner’s inquests and fatality inquires. Here is one… Read More »Use of Force and Considerations for Career Survival

Chris Butler, Advanced Specialist and Senior Force Science Instructor  (Editor’s note: The following commentary was originally posted by Chris Butler, Insp. (Retired) on social media and  later adapted for publication… Read More »Is Heart Rate a Predictor of Police Officer Performance? 

Introduction By the very nature of police work, sometimes critical incidents occur in extremely short periods of times. Police officers can be confronted with potentially life- threatening dangers seemingly without… Read More »Ballistic Implications of Shooting Through Windshields

By: Chris Butler and Marc Ruskey Maybe you have had an experience like this. I (Chris) recall the day I desperately wanted an ice cream cone and, having discovered that… Read More »Hick’s Law and the Quagmire: Understanding Decision Making in Law Enforcement

I was recently involved in a use of force investigation where two police officers utilized physical force on an arrest who was handcuffed. The officers had a drawn-out battle with… Read More »Does Handcuffed Equal Harmless?

New Research Improves Understanding of the Relationship between Sleep and Memory Consolidation  Decades of research on memory formation has advanced our understanding of how we perceive events, the role of… Read More »“Sleep On It; Sleep, Memory and the Officer Interview”

by Chris Butler and Dan Fraser No Crystal Ball If you knew you were going to be suddenly ambushed and assaulted by an assailant at extreme close quarters on your… Read More »Defeating the Blur – Rethinking Traditional Police Training to Close Quarter Spontaneous Attacks

Unintended Firearms Discharges in Law Enforcement – Principle and Contributory Causes Part 6 Inspector (Ret) Chris Butler Well welcome back to this week’s study on untended discharges. Last week, in… Read More »“The Gun Just Went Off! I Didn’t Pull the Trigger, Honest!” – Part 6

Unintended Firearms Discharges in Law Enforcement – Principle and Contributory Causes Part 5 Inspector (Ret) Chris Butler Welcome back to Part 5 of our study into the causes of unintended… Read More »“The Gun Just Went Off! I Didn’t Pull the Trigger, Honest!” – Part 5