Fred Fuller
Moderator Emeritus
FORCE DECISIONS: A Citizens Guide, Understanding How Police Determine Appropriate Use Of Force, by Rory Miller. YMAA Publication Center, Inc.: Wolfeboro, NH, 2012. 185 pages. Illustrated. $12.89 in paperback from Amazon.
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Any THR member who spends much time in ST&T knows that I am a fan of Rory Miller's work. It is unusual to find someone who is an artist in both physical violence and the written word all wrapped up in the same package. We're extremely lucky that whatever combination of nature, nurture, circumstance, attitude and ability which came together to produce Rory Miller actually happened. And as far as I'm concerned, this one is the best of his work I've seen so far.
The book is written to help plain ordinary citizens understand law enforcement use of force. That might seem a strange topic for a book, but the understanding is necessary for citizens who might need to deal with law enforcement officers under stressful situations - like people who carry concealed weapons, for example. Understanding LEO training in use of force decisions can only contribute to a better understanding of how those decisions are made, applied and evaluated afterward. And since the legal strictures on use of force are in many ways similar as far as the CCW community and the LE community are concerned, a view from the other side of that narrow divide is useful.
A lot of what's here is distilled into a list of twelve of what Miller calls 'hard truths.' The first of these: The only defense against evil, violent people is good people who are more skilled at violence. Hard Truth #3: In the extreme moment, only force can stop force. #6: There will never be a simple formula to give clear answers to how much force is enough. Force incidents are chaos and you can't write a cookie-cutter answer to chaos. #9: Knowing what to do is not the same as doing it. I think you get the idea - the meat of the book is in what ties those things and more together. And it's all solid and useful material, well thought out and well written.
I continue to be impressed with Rory Miller's cogent analysis of the physical and mental issues involved in the pro-social use of force, and particularly by his writing style, even though I'm no expert on the topic covered by this particular book. My wife, once a corrections officer and administrator in the juvenile justice system, now a retired university professor of criminology with a focus on law enforcement use of force, says that this is the book she does not have to write, which is her highest accolade. So if you're going to listen to either of us, pay attention to her and not me.
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AUTHOR's BIO: from Amazon.com
Rory Miller is a seventeen-year veteran of a metropolitan correctional system. He spent seventeen years, including ten as a sergeant, with the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office in Portland Oregon. His assignments included Booking, Maximum Security, Disciplinary and Administrative Segregation, and Mental Health Units. He was a CERT (Corrections Emergency Response Team) member for over eleven years and Team Leader for six.
His training has included over eight hundred hours of tactical training; witness protection and close-quarters handgun training with the local US Marshals; Incident Command System; Instructor Development Courses; AELE Discipline and Internal Investigations; Hostage Negotiations and Hostage Survival; Integrated Use of Force and Confrontational Simulation Instructor; Mental Health; Defensive Tactics, including the GRAPLE instructors program; Diversity; and Supervision.
Rory has designed and taught courses including Confrontational Simulations; Uncontrolled Environments; Crisis Communications with the Mentally Ill; CERT Operations and Planning; Defensive Tactics; and Use of Force for Multnomah County and other local agencies.
In 2008 Rory Miller left his agency to spend over a year in Iraq with the Department of Justice ICITAP program as a civilian advisor to the Iraqi Corrections System.
He has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, a blackbelt in jujutsu and college varsities in judo and fencing. He also likes long walks on the beach.
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Amazon link for this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Force-Decisio...id=1350573765&sr=1-1&keywords=force+decisions
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Any THR member who spends much time in ST&T knows that I am a fan of Rory Miller's work. It is unusual to find someone who is an artist in both physical violence and the written word all wrapped up in the same package. We're extremely lucky that whatever combination of nature, nurture, circumstance, attitude and ability which came together to produce Rory Miller actually happened. And as far as I'm concerned, this one is the best of his work I've seen so far.
The book is written to help plain ordinary citizens understand law enforcement use of force. That might seem a strange topic for a book, but the understanding is necessary for citizens who might need to deal with law enforcement officers under stressful situations - like people who carry concealed weapons, for example. Understanding LEO training in use of force decisions can only contribute to a better understanding of how those decisions are made, applied and evaluated afterward. And since the legal strictures on use of force are in many ways similar as far as the CCW community and the LE community are concerned, a view from the other side of that narrow divide is useful.
A lot of what's here is distilled into a list of twelve of what Miller calls 'hard truths.' The first of these: The only defense against evil, violent people is good people who are more skilled at violence. Hard Truth #3: In the extreme moment, only force can stop force. #6: There will never be a simple formula to give clear answers to how much force is enough. Force incidents are chaos and you can't write a cookie-cutter answer to chaos. #9: Knowing what to do is not the same as doing it. I think you get the idea - the meat of the book is in what ties those things and more together. And it's all solid and useful material, well thought out and well written.
I continue to be impressed with Rory Miller's cogent analysis of the physical and mental issues involved in the pro-social use of force, and particularly by his writing style, even though I'm no expert on the topic covered by this particular book. My wife, once a corrections officer and administrator in the juvenile justice system, now a retired university professor of criminology with a focus on law enforcement use of force, says that this is the book she does not have to write, which is her highest accolade. So if you're going to listen to either of us, pay attention to her and not me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHOR's BIO: from Amazon.com
Rory Miller is a seventeen-year veteran of a metropolitan correctional system. He spent seventeen years, including ten as a sergeant, with the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office in Portland Oregon. His assignments included Booking, Maximum Security, Disciplinary and Administrative Segregation, and Mental Health Units. He was a CERT (Corrections Emergency Response Team) member for over eleven years and Team Leader for six.
His training has included over eight hundred hours of tactical training; witness protection and close-quarters handgun training with the local US Marshals; Incident Command System; Instructor Development Courses; AELE Discipline and Internal Investigations; Hostage Negotiations and Hostage Survival; Integrated Use of Force and Confrontational Simulation Instructor; Mental Health; Defensive Tactics, including the GRAPLE instructors program; Diversity; and Supervision.
Rory has designed and taught courses including Confrontational Simulations; Uncontrolled Environments; Crisis Communications with the Mentally Ill; CERT Operations and Planning; Defensive Tactics; and Use of Force for Multnomah County and other local agencies.
In 2008 Rory Miller left his agency to spend over a year in Iraq with the Department of Justice ICITAP program as a civilian advisor to the Iraqi Corrections System.
He has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, a blackbelt in jujutsu and college varsities in judo and fencing. He also likes long walks on the beach.
==========================================
Amazon link for this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Force-Decisio...id=1350573765&sr=1-1&keywords=force+decisions
