A Novel Assessment of Law Enforcement Officer Response to aDynamic Shooting Protocol

Abstract

Police officers’ responses to violent situations are frequently scrutinized. PURPOSE: This study was created to establish a Target Assessment, Action, and Accuracy Protocol (TAAAP), assessing law enforcement personnel’s decision making and firearm proficiency in a dynamic environment. We hypothesized the TAAAP would result in a greater performance differentiation than a traditional shooting test. METHODS: Healthy, non-colorblind, law enforcement officers (n=7) participated in four trials; traditional fatigued, TAAAP fatigued, traditional fresh, and TAAAP fresh. The traditional protocol required officers to fire eight shots in 15 s at a target 3 m away, then fire four rounds in 6 s at a target 6.1 m away. Following a magazine change, the protocol was repeated. The TAAAP consisted of multiple targets, both hostile and friendly, at varying distances across five separate shooting bays. Fatigued protocols required participants to run until volitional fatigue and shoot, whereas subjects had no physical exertion prior to beginning the fresh trials. Shooting accuracy and response time were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: The traditional shooting test demonstrated an accuracy rate of 88 +9% while the TAAAP demonstrated an accuracy rate of 49 +17%. The findings of the current study demonstrated TAAAP is a more challenging assessment tool as compared to traditional shooting tasks. CONCLUSIONS: While the traditional task demonstrated a potential ceiling effect, the TAAAP may provide a better example of shooting accuracy in naturalistic settings when compared to the results from officer involved shootings at less than 6.1 m.