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With Use Of Deadly Force In Question, Some Cops Learning Martial Arts

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The way police officers react to calls has been questioned during recent police-involved shootings, not only in Chicago, but across the country. Now a martial arts training center in Evanston is teaching officers to make arrests without using deadly force.

CBS 2's Sandra Torres shows us how in this Original Report.

Using your hands and body as a weapon is one of the key lessons of the Krav Maga seminar at Tier One Training Center in Evanston. Krava Maga is an Israeli self-defense technique considered one of the most efficient street-fighting systems in the world.

"It is a self-defense system that was originally developed actually before the founding of the state of Israel. It was developed for civilians to learn how to protect themselves very quickly," Tier One owner Arpun Nagaraj said.

Krav Maga was developed for civilians, but can be helpful to police officers like Dwight Davis, who works for a North Shore police department.

"You really need training like this to help. It can help prevent – not totally eliminate, prevent – a lot of situations that we see happening across the country today," Davis said.

Kfir Itzhaki, a former lead combat instructor in the Israeli Defense Forces, provided the training at Sunday's seminar in Evanston.

"The easy way is to go and shoot. If you can use your body, using your Krav Maga abilities without shooting, then that's good," he said.

Itzhaki said he was teaching officers the fastest and most efficient way to neutralize a person without causing too much injury, as well as how to use force while controlling emotions.

"Emotions are highly important," said a Chicago police officer who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons.

She said she truly believes this additional training is key.

"Coming out of the academy, you really don't get much other training. So this is very important to keep up the training and continue with techniques and skills," she said.

The techniques and skills taught through Krav Maga could be useful during active threats.

"We're in a bad light right now but we're doing our best," Davis said.

This eight-hour seminar also involved training against knife threats or attacks against civilians. Itzhaki said even though those attacks are not as common in Chicago, it's always good to be prepared just in case.

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