URBANA, Ill. (WAND) - An Urbana police officer is learning jiu jitsu with the hope of adding another tool to his belt in law enforcement responses. 

Sgt. Matthew McKinney is the supervisor of the night shift with the Urbana Police Department. For the last year, he's been involved with martial arts in the hope of expanding his training. 

Jiu jitsu - a ground-based form of martial arts that uses leverage, angles and timing to secure of non-violent opponent submission - focuses on joint locks and other techniques. McKinney wants to know it to help de-escalate high stress situations. 

"Actively training in restraining people gives you confidence on handling stressful situations on a regular basis," McKinney said. 

He's trained by the owner and operator of C-U Jiu Jitsu, who is part of a program called Adopt a Cop BJJ. It allows officers to get martial arts training for free, or at a low cost. For some officers, this is the closest they'll get to real life situations. 

Jiu jitsu has worked for other law enforcement. Just look at Marietta, Ga., which has all 95 officers trained. Within a year, the department saw a 23 percent drop in stun gun deployment and a 53 percent drop in arrestees being hurt. It also has seen a 48 percent drop in officers being hurt. 

Jiu jitsu training is not required by the Urbana police department, but McKinney is not alone. Several of his colleagues joined him in doing this on their own time.