How do you know that your arrest and control physical tactics are effective? While making presentations on police use of force - either physical combative training or in lecture format - I've observed that many officers believe they are being trained ineffectively, or trained in tactics they feel are not effective in their real world engagements. Meanwhile, a small minority of officers feel they are receiving effective training, a perception for which they may or may not have the experience to make an accurate assessment.

I've witnessed a lack of continuity of training across law enforcement agencies. Further, I haven't encountered any person or agency that can produce quantifiable evidence about the level of effectiveness of their arrest and control tactics training in the field. 

In fact, more than 90 percent of agencies that I have trained - or polled - do not take steps to analyze or evaluate the effectiveness of their empty hand arrest and control training. That doesn't mean that the training is ineffective. It means that there is no established measure of its effectiveness. How can we legitimize any specific training if we cannot support its effectiveness with evidence of success (or lack of success) once implemented?