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21 of 21 found the following review helpful:
 Officer Survival and Family Survival TextJan 22, 2001
By Charles S. Heal
"Sid Heal"
Force Under Pressure is a book written by a psychologist with a deep appreciation of law enforcement tactical operations, especially those requiring deadly force. I had read only the first chapter when I stopped and got a pen and highlighter and began making marginal notes identifying key ideas and phrases for later use. Dr. Blum demonstrates a clear understanding of the ambiguity, confusion, high risk and severe time constraints that accompany law enforcement tactical encounters. He describes the effects of stress on human thinking and why perceptual distortion can lead to false conclusions. Each of the learning points is amplified by a actual situations. The book concludes with recommendation for surviving deadly encounters, not only physically but mentally and spiritually as well. This book is now one of the texts in my library on crisis decision making.
26 of 28 found the following review helpful:
Excellent Text for Police Use of Force InstructorsSep 06, 2001
By Anthony Cataldo
I have been a police officer for 20 years and a Defensive Tactics Instructor for 17 years, this book highlights the psycological data that has taken me 10 years to learn and condensed it into a easy to read text. This book should be read by all police officers and possibly by all recruits in the academy. It should be a mandatory text to be studied by all police use of force instructors, this includes firearm instructors. Any instructor who is serious about teaching their students effective techniques of survival need themselves to understand the psycological process of a lethal threat encounter and be capable of imparting said knowledge to their students. It is the mind that must be trained and the body will follow. Good work Dr. Blum.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Force under pressureMay 12, 2001
By Brian P. Butler
I have read a lot of books pertaining to police work. This is the first one that I have had the opportunity to read that is written for police officers. This book is geared for a police officer to read. It brings up many insights into officer safety, feelings of guilt and sadness, along with how to deal with them. The only negative thing that I could say about this book would be that it is written almost in a "school book" or informative style. I think that the author could have used othre angles to make it a little more interesting.
7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Mandatory Reading for Instructors & SupervisorsJan 31, 2003
I just finished this book after adding it to my collection of prep books for promotion (someday). Dr.Blum's prose is detailed and informative, without crossing the line into technical jumbly. Make no mistake: This book should be mandatory reading for all officers at every level. Don't wait until your first traumatic incident to buy this book; get it now and use the preparation techniques described. I only wish this book had been handed out the first day after leaving the protective walls of the academy...
8 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 Interesting subject, tedious writing styleJun 21, 2004
By Seppo Vesala
This book handles the stresses related to police work, how they affect individual officer's life, and how to overcame the stress. The author is a phychologist who works with police departments in stress-related issues. I had high hopes towards this book, as I have read a couple of similar books, and they have been mostly interesting to read, shedding light to an important issue. I was disappointed with this book, however, as in places the text is somewhat tedious. It is not too difficult to understand, but it is not very pleasant to read. It is as if the author had forgotten to whom he is writing this book for, as he uses expressions and writing style that you would expect to find in a scientific publication, not in a book aimed for general public. In places the text is much more interesting to read, as if the author had been suddenly excited about the given subject, bringing his enthusiasm into the text. The text covers both the theoretical aspects of the issue, and there are also some stuff that can be directly put into use (like visualization exercises). The book explains the background and causes of some widely known stressors, which was interesting to read. If you can put up with the somewhat tedious writing style, the book (the issues presented in the book) is interesting to read. But on the other hand, there are more interesting books on the market, also.
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