Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2024, $1,325,889)
The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) proposes to partner with the Colorado Springs (CO) Police Department to conduct a mixed-methods evaluation of police-focused Brazilian jiu-jitsu (PF-BJJ) training as it is implemented agency-wide to sworn officers. PF-BJJ teaches officers grappling techniques to bring noncompliant subjects to the ground, establish control, and handcuff them. Because it relies on controlling a subject rather than inflicting pain (i.e., punches, kicks) to obtain compliance, PF-BJJ is believed to reduce the amount of force used by police, and mitigate the risk of injury, during use of force encounters. PF-BJJ is also thought to improve officers’ confidence handling potentially dangerous encounters, thereby facilitating the use of communication and de-escalation strategies, and promote mental and physical health.
PERF seeks to build on early promising research and comprehensively evaluate PF-BJJ training. The first goal is to determine the impact of PF-BJJ training on key use of force outcomes. In support of this goal, PERF will rigorously evaluate PF-BJJ training via stepped wedge clustered randomized controlled trial to determine its impact on force prevalence, force severity, and injuries to officers and subjects. The second goal is to conduct in-depth study of use of force encounters as they unfold at micro-temporal scales. To fulfill this goal, PERF will conduct systematic social observation (SSO) of officers’ body-worn camera (BWC) video, focusing on the application of BJJ tactics by officers and the success of those tactics (time to force, duration of force, and the use of de-escalation tactics). The third goal is to document officers’ attitudes about training (quality, dosage, applicability) and use of force (preparedness, confidence). For this goal, PERF will administer pre- and post-training officer surveys and convene officer focus groups immediately following training. Surveys will also query officers about personal experience with jiu-jitsu training and to self-report on several health and wellness indicators.
The proposed mixed-methods study will produce valuable insights to guide police leaders’ decisions about adopting PF-BJJ training in their agencies and fill essential gaps in the research literature given the otherwise limited evidence. This project would be the first to evaluate the impact of PF-BJJ training on outcomes using a randomized controlled design. The experimental evaluation will be supplemented with in-depth examination of force encounters via SSO of BWC video. PERF will carefully document the development, implementation, and impact of CSPD’s PF-BJJ training to share broadly with the field. CA/NCF