"Lethal & Less-lethal seminar" in SF on March 24-26

February 1, 2008

http://www.ForceScienceNew s.com <A href="http://www.forcesci encenews. com/">
Force Science News Extra

In this issue:
Latest on force issues featured in upcoming Lethal & Less-lethal seminar

The latest findings on officer-involved shootings from the Force Science
Research Center will be among the cutting-edge topics featured at an upcoming
seminar on Lethal and Less-lethal Force, sponsored by Americans for Effective Law
Enforcement. The popular 3-day program, spotlighting new developments in the
legal, psychological, and physiological aspects of force encounters, is
scheduled for Mar. 24-26 in San Francisco, to be repeated Oct. 20-22 in Las Vegas.
Registration information and full descriptions of content and instructors are
available at: http://www.aele.org/ Seminars. html <A href="http://www.aele. org/Seminars. html"> . "These programs typically fill up
quickly, so prompt registration is recommended, " says Wayne Schmidt, executive
director of AELE, the nonprofit organization that monitors law
enforcement- related court decisions and files legal briefs on behalf of police agencies in
significant courtroom controversies. "The use of force lies at the heart of an
overwhelming proportion of litigation against officers and their agencies, not
to mention demoralizing exposure in the media," Schmidt says.

"Misconceptions about how to defend these cases-and prevent them in the first
place-too often result in severe judgments of liability against departments
and in unwarranted criminal convictions of officers.

"Research, technology, training, and legal issues related to use of force are
evolving rapidly, and our goal with this program is to de-mystify current
complexities with practical information that's immediately useful to command
staff, city and county attorneys, police legal advisors, trainers, and risk
managers."

Content presented by the nationally known faculty, including 4 instructors
affiliated with the Force Science Research Center at Minnesota State
University-Mankato, will cover in depth such urgent topics as: • Revelations about
"excited delirium" and other sudden and in-custody death phenomena • How to use
FSRC's recent ground-breaking research findings to improve investigations of
controversial, high-profile shootings, including shot-in-the- back cases •

What investigators must know about perceptual and memory distortions during
critical incidents to keep their search for the truth on track

• Important force implications for dealing with mentally ill, suicidal, and
chemically influenced subjects, as well as suicide-by-cop scenarios

• Critical, independent assessments of medical issues related to the Taser®:
street truth vs. media "truth"

• The latest policy and procedural recommendations for electronic restraint
devices, neck restraints, chemical agents, and other options in the less-lethal
"toolbox"

• Devices, techniques, and tactics that can help in avoiding rather than
generating lawsuits and complaints

• How to dissect and apply in training the most critical Supreme Court
decisions related to force, as well as other current case law

• Sidestepping legal landmines in internal investigations, criminal probes,
and review board hearings

• The impact of consent decree litigation

• Surprising discoveries about the psychology of combat and the dynamics of
violent encounters, revealed in hundreds of officer-involved shootings

• Proper procedures and preparation for internal affairs, review board, and
criminal investigations to assure fair and valid results.

Faculty members who are affiliated with FSRC are:

Dr. Bill Lewinski, the Research Center's executive director;

Dr. Alexis Artwohl, former police psychologist and a prominent researcher on
perceptual and memory distortions in officer-involved shootings;

Greg Meyer, captain (ret.) with the Los Angeles Police Academy and a risk
management consultant specializing in reducing injuries in force encounters;

and Charles Remsberg, senior correspondent for PoliceOne.com and author of 3
leading textbooks on officer safety.

Other instructors include:

Judge Emory Plitt Jr., past chair of the IACP's Legal Officers Section, with
more than 3 decades' experience in civil liability litigation;

Dr. John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody
Deaths;

Ken Katsaris, former sheriff and a prominent expert witness and litigation
consultant;

Michael Brave, national litigation counsel for Taser® International. AELE
courses are accredited for training credits in some states. For details, check:
http://www.aele.org/ cle.html <A href="http://www.aele. org/cle.html"> .