Our police and military on the front lines need the most effective tools for self-protection.
It is imperative they have the capacity for lethal force to overcome lethal threats encountered in the line of duty. However, our society demands that we temper capacity with accountability: we must arm operators with the tools to protect themselves without exposing communities to undue risk. This balance is not only an ethical responsibility, but also a challenge for any type of law enforcement among a civilian population. It is precisely this challenge that TORIS was formed to address.

TORIS brings together professionals from emergency medicine, sports medicine, injury biomechanics, combat training, education, neurobiology and law enforcement to provide the highest level of research and education in the area of lethal force and debilitating injury.

Why Lethal Force?

It is our aim to increase community safety by addressing professional liability; reduce the incidence of injury in training with scientific teaching-methods; and enhance the security of the operators in the field, while easing risk management for their agency. The research and educational focus on a singular idea, personal lethal force, delivers three benefits available nowhere else in the world:

1We demonstrate the simplicity and severity of debilitating injury and its consequences, while exposing the risk of improper training, poorly applied techniques, and excessive force.

2We demonstrate the simplicity and severity of debilitating injury, equipping operators to better assess the dangers presented to them by aggressive suspects, whether armed or unarmed.

3We demonstrate the simplicity and severity of debilitating injury, so that when personal lethal force is necessary, the operators have the tools to save their own life and the lives of others.

Providing information and curricula for Instructors to increase the lethality of their students so they can make better non-lethal decisions might seem counter-intuitive at first glance—yet this is precisely what is done in firearms courses around the world.

Firearms-safety relies on sound information, scientifically-grounded course design, and the absolute seriousness of the task at hand. It is the basis for that sober perspective demanded of every man and woman issued a firearm. How dangerous can a firearm be? What consequences can be anticipated from its use? When should it not be deployed? Providing firearms without associated firearms-safety training would be considered criminally negligent. The same is unmistakably true for Defensive Tactics or Hand-to-Hand training.

Applying the knowledge from biomechanics, medicine and education to lethal force training creates a unique result: an enhanced ability to ramp up to lethal force delivery when absolutely necessary, with a profound and demonstrable understanding of the dangers that come with its application. Effectively, we develop curriculum for a firearms-course for the human body—coupled with safety, testing, and risk management to link power with responsibility.

We recognize the need for increased options in lethal force application. That need dictates the mission of the TORIS organization: to improve operator effectiveness, while ensuring accountability informs their judgment and safety.