by Joe Tougas ’86
Every baseball fan has seen it: a long fly ball, hit hard toward the bleachers. The outfielder darts back, his body running full throttle but his eyes focused on the ball’s destination. It’s going to be a close one. The crowd’s shouting, the ball’s rising, then descending toward the fielder’s extended glove and " BAM " he slams into the outfield wall.
"These people make more money in one game than a cop makes the whole year,"says Dr. Bill Lewinski, a professor in Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Law Enforcement program and a behavioral scientist specializing in lethal-force encounters. "And they still hit that wall."
When the frantic mixture of cops, suspects and guns goes wrong, it’s often the result of decisions made in the blink of an eye -- moments in which the officer must decide whether the suspect’s sweatshirt, glove compartment or closet is concealing a gun about to be sprung and fired.
Studying what goes on in the heads of both cops and suspects during those moments is the purpose of the Force Science Research Center, an institute pioneered in 2004 at MSU by Lewinski and Dr. Bill Hudson, chair of MSU’s Electrical and Computer Engineering and Technology Department.
Although the program is still in its infancy, thousands of police officers and trainers around the world are already using it as a resource. From U.S. cops to the British Secret Service, an estimated 150,000 law enforcement officers are taking advantage of the studies and reports pouring out of MSU.
"We’re the place in the world," says Lewinski from his home near campus, where the bookshelves and entertainment center are packed with textbooks and videos pertaining to police and shootings. It’s been Lewinski’s passion since 1975.
"What’s very clear is that science has never come to the streets," he says. "People argue about cop shootings all the time, but it’s all opinion."
In less than a year, the Force Science Research Center has become a fountainhead of new information based on the studies conducted here and an array of consultations in areas traditionally considered outside the scope of cops and criminals. Lewinski is particularly proud of the national board of advisors who have signed on with the Center -- national specialists from fields such as optics, psychology, cardiology, psycholinguistics and more. Board members include Phil Hayden, co-creator of the FBI’s SWAT team, and Kevin Gilmartin, one of the more prominent police psychologists in North America.
The Force Science Research Center has gained national attention for its work as well. Lewinski was recently featured on a segment of the CBS news show 48 Hours, after being asked by the Los Angeles Police Department to help analyze an officer’s fatal shooting of a thirty-nine-year-old man at a costume party. When police responded to a call, the man pointed a fake gun at an officer, who in turn fired nine rounds at him, hitting him four times. The case sparked controversy -- and CBS’ interest -- because the autopsy showed all four shots struck the man in the back. Famed attorney Johnnie Cochran represented the family in a lawsuit.
Lewinski provided an explanation -- based on research at MSU -- about what moves a suspect makes after pointing the gun. Lewinski’s theory was that the first five shots fired didn’t hit the suspect, which gave the man half a second to turn his back and run, moving into the shots that were being fired through a porch window.
"It does explain how an officer could see the situation and justifiably shoot at the subject that’s presenting the threat," Lewinski told 48 Hours. "While not excusing the outcome, we’re expecting a lot from someone when they’re facing their own death."
The Center’s research has been used in five different cases in the past year, and the science studied -- and used by trainers -- is based more on behavior than ballistics.
"I don’t care about the gun," Lewinski says. "I need to know the mechanics of the gun, but it’s the human performance elements we focus on."
The Research Center has multiple components, including the MILO law enforcement simulator, which puts users in a virtual environment with a number of potentially lethal scenarios. While such video-assisted devices have been part of officer training for decades, this new simulator allows the action on the screen to react to the officer’s decisions. Voice commands, such as ordering the suspect to turn around, can be factored in.
The technology, which can be modified by individual police departments to suit their local environments, allows for study of cops’ mental and physical reactions, which are then used in future training.
"I think it’s pretty incredible stuff," says Mankato Deputy Director of Public Safety Matt Westermayer, who oversees a staff of forty-seven officers. "That technology takes our training to the next level. Its capabilities of being able to measure reaction time -- there’s no other technology or training equipment available to law enforcement that comes close to that."
Such training opportunities are important, Lewinski says. He compares police officers with professional athletes, who are trained exhaustively year-round for what amounts to a ball game. Cops, on the other hand, receive less direct training than pro ball players -- and plenty of other less-dangerous occupations as well.
"It requires twice as much training to become a barber or cosmetologist in Minnesota than it does to become a police officer," Lewinski says.
The simulator is an important part of the Center’s work, but it’s just one component of what really goes on there, Lewinksi says. "We’re really focused on all the human elements of this."
Joe Tougas is a freelance writer and editor in Mankato. He is a regular contributor to TODAY, the magazine for MSU alumni and friends.
