UFM is a five-day, 40-hour academic program. ALL aspects of this program involve principles and theories that are taught within the confines of a classroom. It has been structured to meet the needs of experienced law enforcement trainers, administrators and investigators tasked with managing use of force issues. UFM also offers considerable value to attorneys tasked with reviewing or defending alleged police misuse of force incidents.

Although UFM follows a seminar structure, it affords student-instructor interactivity through small class size. UFM also enables instructors to return to their respective agencies to teach this critical course curriculum. As a result, UFM represents tremendous value as a training investment.

If other prerequisites are satisfied, students successfully completing the UFM program will be eligible for the PPSC “Certified Master Use of Force Instructor” certification. Use THIS LINK to view the requirements for this certification

UFM is structured to afford a break-out session on the final day to channel knowledge acquired in this course into practical exercises that stimulate critical thinking within policy and procedural realms. To accomplish this, each student must bring his/her agency policies salient to the use of force.*

Course Training Objectives

    To successfully fulfill the requirements for a  certification, each student must pass an objective written examination on the fifth day of the course. The examination serves to determine student comprehension and retention of the learning objectives enumerated below.

• Will be able to identify employment concepts associated with the various types of
  nonlethal weapons

• Will be able to identify the six primary advantages of nonlethal force options

• Will be able to identify the five primary functions for all nonlethal weapons

• Will be able to identify the fundamental differences between 1st and 2nd order effects

• Will be able to Identify the seven types of nonlethal weapons and describe their individual advantages and shortcomings

• Will be able to identify the importance of a simple yet definitive policy for governing the use of all nonlethal option

• Will be able to describe the invention and use of a “Swett Curve” to compare various nonlethal force options with an emphasis on understanding the nuances for training and crafting policy

• Will be able to describe first and second order effect injuries as well as the most common types of injuries for nonlethal weapons and how to avoid them.

• Will be able to Identify differences in strategies that focus on prevention vs. intervention in preventing civil disorders

• Will be able to Identify and describe the two fundamental components of risk

• Will understand the basics of risk management, and be able to describe their application to law enforcement.

• Will be familiar with resistance-control continuums and how they are used in use of force management.

• Will understand how to do basic legal research.

• Will be familiar with use of force related Federal case law.

• Will understand how to conduct a training program needs assessment.

• Will be able to describe elements of a defensible use of force policy.

• Will be able to describe the process for developing a use of force training plan.

• Will understand and be able to describe risk management of various use of force disciplines (firearms, defensive tactics, non-lethal weapons, etc.).

• Will understand and be able to describe risk management techniques as they relate to the management of vehicle pursuits.

• Will be able to describe the important elements of defensible use of force report writing and documentation.

• Will be able to identify situational and behavioral precursors to police applications of force.

• Will be able to identify risk factors associated with In-Custody Death Syndrome.

• Will be able to identify and classify use of force implements by their associated levels of injury risk.

• Will know the frequency in which police officers tend to misapply deadly force.

• Will know the most significant correlates associated with mistaken use of deadly force.

• Will identify the most significant correlate pertinent to officer hit ratios and volume of fire.

• Will be able to list the most influential correlates within bunch-shooting incidents.

• Will be able to list the most important operational aspects of policing under low light conditions.

• Will be able to Identify the degree of declination in marksmanship and the escalation of volume of fire associated with confrontations occurring under low light conditions.

• Will be able to identify the degree of frequency in which mistake-of-fact shootings occur under low light conditions.

• Will understand the process in which perceptual shorthand contributes to mistake-of-fact shootings.

• Will be able to understand the strategy by which mistake-of-fact shootings might be attenuated.

• Will be able to identify the critical implications of the so-called, "Split-Second Syndrome" with regard to training, OIS investigations and in defense against litigation.

• Will know the genesis of, as well as the policy and training implications of so-called “officer-created jeopardy.”

• Will understand fundamental causal issues associated with the unintentional discharge of firearms.

Click here for a color PDF version of the UFM course brochure

Course Instructors

Maj. Steve Ijames, MS, MPA

Major Steve Ijames has been a police officer for the past 29 years, and recently retired as an assistant chief with the Springfield, Missouri Police Department.  Ijames is a graduate of the 186th FBI National Academy, and has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and a master’s degree in Public Administration. During his law enforcement tenure Ijames served in, supervised, and commanded a variety of assignments including uniformed patrol, investigations, undercover narcotics, and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT).  Ijames created the less lethal force (impact projectiles, chemical munitions, noise flash diversionary devices, TASER) instructor/trainer programs for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and is the author of their model policies and position papers involving these technologies. Ijames has offered related training on behalf of the IACP and the U.S. Department of State across the United States, Canada, and in 33 other countries including such places as Tanzania, Bosnia, Somalia, Haiti, El Salvador, Yemen, Pakistan, and East Timor. Ijames has served on a number of post event use of force investigative commissions, most recently in New York City and Boston, has reviewed approximately 1,500 police use of force cases for agencies of varied size including the Los Angeles and Chicago police departments, and provides police litigation consulting in a wide variety of resistance control and related areas. 

Cmdr. Sid Heal, MS, MPA

Charles "Sid" Heal is a retired Commander from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department with nearly 33 years of service in law enforcement, nearly half of which has been spent in units charged with handling law enforcement special and emergency operations.  At various times during his career he has served as an operations officer, watch commander, unit commander, incident commander, consultant and trainer in a myriad of law enforcement tactical operations, and is a court recognized expert in law enforcement special operations and emergency management.  As a collateral assignment, Sid was in charge of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department's internationally recognized technology exploration program.  This program seeks to identify, develop, exploit and integrate new technologies for law enforcement.  The focus of effort for this program is on intervening with nonlethal options. 

Sid has earned three college degrees and is a graduate of the California Peace Officer's Standards and Training, Center for Leadership Development, Command College, and the FBI National Academy.  He is the author of Sound Doctrine:  A Tactical Primer, and An Illustrated Guide to Tactical Diagramming, as well as more than 120 articles on law enforcement issues and has appeared on numerous television newscasts and documentaries and been quoted in many periodicals and newspapers.  Additionally, he has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences in Canada, Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, Israel, Brazil and Argentina, as well as throughout the United States. 

Tom has served on the state, county and local levels of law enforcement since 1978. He has worked as a sworn law enforcement officer in three states (NJ, UT, NH). He worked as a training coordinator at Smith & Wesson Academy from 1990-2001, during which time he trained over 12,000 officers in a variety of use of force disciplines.  Tom is widely known as one of the nation's foremost authorities on "questionable" police shootings. He currently works as a researcher, consultant and expert witness for PPSC.

Eligibility

Eligible candidates for this program are members of the police, corrections, military and security communities. ALL applicants MUST provide credentials of their affiliation with an accredited law enforcement, corrections, military or security organization for acceptance into this program.

• 100% refund: permissible if course withdrawal is no less than 30 days of the starting date of the course you've enrolled in.

• 50% refund: is afforded if withdrawal is requested within 30 days of your course starting date, but not less than 7 days of that starting date.