First, understand the problem.
Violence, threat, resistance, human behavior and protection are not a single subject.
COMBATIVES examines different problems through different sources: crime data, scientific research, institutional documents, police records, victimization surveys, behavioral analysis, historical archives and documented operational experience.
A statistic may show frequency. An observational study may reveal sequence. A case may expose a variable that had not yet been considered. A historical archive may clarify where a particular idea originated.
No single source explains the entire reality.
RESEARCH LIBRARY · EDITORIAL REVISION · 20 SEPTEMBER 2026
Research first. Implications second.
RESEARCH ARCHITECTURE
There is no single library.
A robbery, a stalking incident, a sexual assault, a police encounter involving physical resistance, a missing child and a hostage crisis present different problems.
The COMBATIVES knowledge base is organized so that each question can be examined using sources appropriate to that specific problem.
01
Violence, crime & victimization
Recorded crime, homicide, robbery, assault, sexual violence, domestic violence, victims, offenders and circumstances.
02
Behavior, threat & prevention
Offender behavior, stalking, threats, targeted violence, target selection, escalation and prevention.
03
Personal safety & environments
Streets, homes, residential environments, vehicles, transportation, workplaces, public spaces, exposure and situational prevention.
04
Policing, force & physical control
Resistance, physical intervention, restraint, takedowns, ground control, handcuffing, injuries, custody, body-worn cameras and training.
05
Crisis & specialized response
Kidnapping, hostages, barricaded subjects, negotiation, terrorism, critical incidents, command and specialized intervention.
06
Human factors, history & method
Perception, surprise, stress, decision-making, behavior under threat, observational research and historical documentation.
FIELDS OF STUDY
The problem defines the source.
The library does not treat different institutions or types of evidence as equivalent. Official statistics, scientific papers, victimization surveys, doctrine, historical documents and operational experience answer different questions.
01Violence & public health
Frequency, consequences, associated factors, prevention and impact on individuals and communities.
02Crime & statistics
Homicide, robbery, theft, assault, rape, weapons, vehicles, missing persons and other indicators.
03Offender behavior
Crime sequence, behavior, victim selection, links between cases and event reconstruction.
04Threats & targeted violence
Threat assessment, concerning behavior, escalation and prevention of targeted attacks.
05Personal safety
Awareness, behavior, distance, boundaries, escape, help-seeking, prevention and response to interpersonal violence.
06Assault & victimization
Violence involving known and unknown offenders, circumstances, locations, weapons, relationships and outcomes.
07Environment & opportunity
Homes, residential settings, businesses, workplaces and environmental characteristics associated with exposure and risk.
08Vehicles & movement
Robbery, theft, parking areas, roads, transportation, boarding, exiting and mobility.
09Child protection
Abuse, neglect, disappearance, sexual exploitation, grooming, digital environments and prevention.
10Women & domestic violence
Domestic violence, intimate partner violence, stalking, sexual violence, femicide, protection and prevention.
11Older adults & vulnerability
Violence, abuse, exploitation, mobility, dependency, isolation and protection.
12Kidnapping, hostages & crisis
Kidnapping, extortion, barricaded subjects, hostage-taking, negotiation and crisis management.
13Terrorism & attacks
Planned attacks, violent extremism, targets, preparation, protective security and response.
14Human factors & decision-making
Attention, perception, surprise, stress, involuntary immobility, cognitive load and decision-making under pressure.
15Trafficking & exploitation
Human trafficking, exploitation, recruitment, vulnerability and organized criminal structures.
16Specialized response
Negotiation, intervention, command, high-risk crises and documented experience from specialized units.
17Physical control & use of force
Physical resistance, restraint, takedowns, ground control, handcuffing, injuries, custody, training and police intervention.
18Cameras & observation
Body-worn cameras, video, temporal sequence, behavioral coding and incident reconstruction.
19Research methods
Sampling, observational studies, inter-rater reliability, comparison and limits of inference.
20History & archives
Primary documents, intelligence, military and police training and the historical development of Combatives.
POLICE PHYSICAL CONTROL
A new line of inquiry within a broader research framework.
The study of police physical control now occupies a dedicated area within the COMBATIVES knowledge base.
The question is not simply which techniques are used. The objective is to observe how an incident develops: contact, resistance, physical intervention, takedown, ground phase, control, handcuffing and the establishment of custody.
CS-001 — COMBATIVES Physical Control Study — is being structured to examine this sequence through observational research.
The external sources below contribute to the development of research questions, variables and methods. They do not represent original CS-001 findings.
01 · BRAZILSENASP · MJSP
Use-of-force regulation, national policy, training, body-worn cameras and public-security data.
02 · UNITED STATESFBI · LEOKA
Data on officers killed or assaulted, incident circumstances and situations associated with arrests and other encounters.
03 · UNITED STATESNational Institute of Justice · NIJ
Research on use of force, resistance, injuries, technology, training and criminal justice.
04 · UNITED KINGDOMHome Office · Police Use of Force
National data covering tactics, restraint, handcuffing, ground restraint, injuries, reasons and outcomes.
05 · CANADARCMP · SB/OR
Structured recording of subject behavior, officer response, situational factors, intervention and injuries.
06 · CANADARCMP · IMIM
Institutional model used to structure assessment of the situation, subject behavior and police intervention options.
07 · NETHERLANDSPolitie
National standardized recording of police use of force and publication of intervention data.
08 · NEW ZEALANDNew Zealand Police
Tactical Options and Environment and Response reports addressing physical interventions and other police options.
09 · FRANCEPolice · Gendarmerie · IGPN
Institutional documentation related to police intervention, force, weapons, control and oversight.
10 · SPAINPolicÃa Nacional · Guardia Civil
Institutional sources examined with attention to differences in agency, jurisdiction, period and recording practices.
11 · RESEARCHBody-Worn Camera Studies
Video used as an observational source to reconstruct behavior, sequence, duration and transitions.
12 · METHODSystematic Social Observation
Structured observation, predefined variables, independent coding and assessment of reliability.
APPROACH → CONTACT → RESISTANCE → PHYSICAL STRUGGLE → TAKEDOWN / GROUND → CONTAINMENT → HANDCUFFING → CUSTODY
BRAZIL
Data and the Brazilian context.
Public security, violence, missing persons, child protection, violence against women, human trafficking, use of force, body-worn cameras and applied research.
National data from Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security, consolidating public-security indicators across the country's federative units.
National publication presenting public-security indicators from Brazil's federative units.
Institutional study addressing the regulation of police use of force in Brazil and the effects of Interministerial Ordinance No. 4,226/2010.
Review used within the COMBATIVES research base to examine evidence, limitations and potential applications of body-worn cameras.
Data, annual reports and research addressing public security and violence in Brazil.
Surveillance and information related to interpersonal violence, accidents and mortality from external causes.
Data and information concerning human-rights violations, including records from the Disque 100 reporting system.
Information and records concerning violence against women and the national support network.
Educational resources and information concerning digital safety, human rights and offenses committed in online environments.
UNITED STATES
Behavior, victimization, policing and prevention.
Large-scale crime databases, victimization surveys, targeted violence, public health, police use of force, officer assaults and observational methods.
Data on law-enforcement officers killed and assaulted in the line of duty, including circumstances associated with arrests and other incidents.
Applied U.S. Department of Justice research on policing, violence, use of force, crime and justice.
Research and prevention resources addressing multiple forms of violence from a public-health perspective.
Resources addressing targeted-violence prevention, terrorism and community preparedness.
UNITED KINGDOM
Crime, decision-making, force and protection.
Victimization, police decision-making, use of force, protective security and preparedness for critical incidents.
National data on police use of force in England and Wales, used to examine tactics, restraint, handcuffing, injuries and outcomes.
Authorized professional practice, the National Decision Model and evidence-based policing resources.
Guidance concerning hostile reconnaissance, protective security and site preparedness.
Public resources addressing terrorism prevention and preparedness for serious incidents.
CANADA
Threat, behavior and police intervention.
Threat assessment, stalking, violent crime and structured documentation of subject behavior and police response.
A structured reporting framework used to document subject behavior, situational factors, officer responses and intervention outcomes.
FRANCE
Crime, behavior, force and crisis.
Crime statistics, behavioral analysis, police research, intervention, oversight and crisis negotiation.
Ministerial statistical service addressing insecurity, crime and victimization.
Behavioral analysis applied to crimes against persons and criminal investigations.
Institutional documentation and reports concerning the conduct and oversight of the Police Nationale.
GERMANY & SPAIN
Criminal analysis, policing and complex threats.
Criminal investigation, case analysis, negotiation, terrorism, organized crime and police documentation.
Case-analysis methodology examining event sequence, behavior, victim characteristics and context.
Police research published by the BKA, including work addressing negotiation teams and crisis situations.
NETHERLANDS · NEW ZEALAND · AUSTRALIA
Additional frameworks for comparison.
Police use of force, tactical options, criminology, homicide, terrorism and different institutional recording systems.
Reports and research examining tactical options and police interventions in real incidents.
ISRAEL · SINGAPORE · JAPAN
Data, crisis and specialized response.
Crime, terrorism, negotiation, hostage incidents and publicly available documentation concerning specialized response.
Institutional documentation concerning preparedness and response to critical incidents.
EUROPE & INTERNATIONAL
Comparison beyond national borders.
Organized crime, terrorism, exploitation, child protection, violence against women, public health and international police cooperation.
International data and reports concerning crime, homicide, drugs and human trafficking.
Criminal analysis and international cooperation across multiple categories of transnational crime.
METHOD & ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Observation also requires method.
Video does not automatically turn an incident into data.
The unit of analysis, variables, coding criteria, temporal sequence, observation quality and inter-rater reliability must be defined.
01Systematic Social Observation
Structured observation of behavior and interaction using predefined criteria.
02Body-Worn Camera Research
Body-worn cameras may support temporal reconstruction of police encounters, but they have a limited field of view and other observational constraints.
03Video Data Analysis
Coding actions, behaviors, transitions and duration from recorded incidents.
04Temporal Sequencing
Recording what occurred before and after an event helps distinguish simple co-occurrence from observable order.
05Inter-rater Reliability
More than one researcher may code the same material to assess consistency and reduce dependence on individual interpretation.
06Observation Quality
When the available image does not support a conclusion, the variable must allow classifications such as indeterminate or not observable.
07Unit of Analysis
One incident may involve multiple officers, multiple subjects and multiple recordings while remaining a single incident.
08Association ≠Causation
Finding two variables together does not, by itself, demonstrate that one caused the other.
HISTORY & ARCHIVES
Documents before legends.
COMBATIVES historical research seeks to prioritize primary documentation and institutional archives whenever available.
Historical documentation used to examine connections between Shanghai, Fairbairn, Sykes and U.S. military personnel.
Historical material concerning Office of Strategic Services training during World War II.
Official Office of Strategic Services collections and World War II documentation.
HOW SOURCES ARE USED
Source. Sample. Method. Finding. Limit.
The name of an institution does not replace reading the study. The strength of a conclusion depends on what was observed, how it was measured and how far the evidence allows the analysis to go.
01Locate the source
Whenever possible, begin with the original document, dataset, paper, report or archive.
02Understand the sample
How many cases were studied, in which population, during what period and under which criteria.
03Examine the method
How the data were produced, observed, classified or collected.
04Identify the finding
Separate what the data showed from the interpretation built around those findings.
05Recognize the limits
Population, context, definitions, missing data, selection bias and observation quality constrain conclusions.
06Compare
Findings from different sources may converge, diverge or simply measure different things.
07Observe
When observational material is available, behavior and sequence can be coded systematically.
08Interpret afterward
Practical implications come after examination of the evidence, context and limitations.
COMBATIVES KNOWLEDGE BASE
The library is the beginning.
The COMBATIVES knowledge base organizes external sources, literature reviews, documented cases, research protocols and, where produced, original data.
01Sources
Data, papers, documents, archives and records.
02Review
Critical reading, comparison and identification of gaps.
03Method
Definition of questions, units of analysis and variables.
04Observation
Structured collection and coding when a project includes original data.
05Analysis
Comparison of patterns, sequences, associations and outcomes.
06Publication
Articles, research notes, reports, charts and findings.
INDEPENDENCE
Reference does not imply affiliation.
The inclusion of an institution, government agency, police unit, university, researcher, publication, research center or archive in this library does not imply affiliation, representation, sponsorship, certification, endorsement or any official relationship with COMBATIVES.
Not every source is used in every piece of content. Selection depends on the question being examined and on the ability of each source to contribute to that question.
Doctrine, institutional models and the documented experience of specialized units are not treated as equivalent to scientific or statistical research.
Findings produced in one country, population or context are not automatically generalizable to another.
Original research projects are identified separately. External references used in developing a research protocol do not constitute original COMBATIVES findings.
External links may be modified, moved or reorganized by the institutions responsible for them.
We do not begin with the answer.
A police intervention, an assault, a disappearance, a stalking incident, a planned attack and a hostage crisis cannot be understood through the same source.
First, we define the problem. Then we look for data capable of answering some part of it.
When the evidence does not support a conclusion, the question remains open.