Predicting law enforcement confidence in going ‘hands-on’: the impact of martial arts training, use-of-force self-efficacy, motivation, and apprehensiveness

Abstract

In law enforcement, there are situations allowing officers to gain control of suspects by going ‘hands-on,’ or physically placing someone in custody beyond simple handcuffing. While much empirical attention is placed on more lethal use-of-force (UOF) measures, little is known about going hands-on. This is concerning considering when force is used, it is almost always with the use of hands, fist or feet only. The purpose of this pilot study is to examine whether martial arts training (MAT) and UOF self-efficacy predict confidence in going hands-on, after accounting for perceived motivation and apprehensiveness. It draws from an online survey, and a non-random subsample of 1,064 un-ranked patrol duty officers in the USA. Results indicate that MAT and high perceived UOF self-efficacy safely predict confidence in going hands-on, even after accounting for perceived motivation and apprehensiveness. Nonetheless, apprehensiveness, but not motivation, remains a strong predictor of not being confident in going hands-on.