# High-speed pursuit training - coming to a computer near you



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*The Street Survival Newsline*
with Calibre Press

Provided by 
Force Science Institute 
(Get a free subscription to Force Science News now)

A new collaboration between the Force Science Research Center and the producer of high-tech computerized training programs could soon radically alter the way officers learn to drive on high-speed pursuits, Code 3 calls, and conventional patrol.
"The results will be significantly heightened decision-making and efficiency behind the wheel, plus improved safety for officers and civilians alike," according to Dr. Bill Lewinski, FSRC's executive director at Minnesota State University-Mankato. "This effort could have a major impact on officer survival, given the high percentage of law enforcement fatalities that now occur each year in traffic mishaps."
FSRC has formed a strategic partnership with the young British firm a²om (pronounced atom), whose unique driver-training system is based on cutting-edge scientific findings about the human brain.
a²om's programs "do not duplicate or supplant ordinary driving simulators or teach the physical mechanics of vehicle operation. Instead they complement those other important elements of driver training," Lewinski told _Force Science News_. 
"This training system concentrates on building vital cognitive skills-scanning awareness, information processing, reaction time, and judgment-that are too often overlooked or minimized. It produces documented changes in the judgment centers of the brain that, in turn, change the way people anticipate and react to challenges while driving."
Founded about two years ago and based in a suburb of London, a²om's pioneering, neuroscientific-based e-learning technology evolved from some 20 years of research into driver performance at leading universities in England and New Zealand. Its quirky corporate name has a dual meaning: it suggests the explosive power of its pioneering training programs and also implies a comprehensive gamut of benefits with its representation of alpha and omega, the first and last letters of the ancient Greek alphabet.
The company's director of research is Dr. Lisa Dorn, an award-winning behavioral scientist at England's Cranfield University, who holds a PhD in individual and group differences in driver behavior. The European representative to the Traffic and Transport Psychology Division of the International Assn. of Applied Psychologists, she has served on expert panels investigating police-related traffic incidents and as an advisor to the Assn. of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Full Article: http://www.policeone.com/police-pro...rsuit-training-coming-to-a-computer-near-you/


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