Tight formations also aided officers in controlling their men during combat and repelling infantry or cavalry charges.

John Rodford, 46, a tiler and plasterer from Rochester, Kent, said it was "chefs and waiters" aiding the escape, rather than officers.

She traveled to Washington D.C., to help at the Washington Office Hospital, where she aided wounded officers and distributed supplies.

In addition, valuable information is being made available to aid forensic practitioners, researchers, and officers of the court through Internet resources such as STRBase (http://www.cstl.nist.gov/biotech/strbase/).

Firearms units maintain a number of tactical advisors to aid senior officers in decision making during major incidents, and to provide a planning capability for pre-planned firearms operations and VIP protection.

Training programs to aid officers in identifying bias have been taken by everyone from cadets to top ranking officers in recent years but have been intensified within the last year, he said.

Sometimes the casings land on ground that is not level, and roll, or they can be kicked by people at the shooting scene, like emergency medical technicians rushing to aid a victim or careless responding officers.

The black officers also overwhelmingly expressed the belief that regardless of personal likes, dislikes or prejudice, white officers would come to their aid and that they would aid white officers.

"It's a privilege that was written into the police contract years ago to aid officers who had been injured on duty or become ill," he said.

Capital ships often carry non-commissioned medical technicians as part of the larger medical department, who perform laboratory work to aid the medical assistants and officers.