An Analysis of Firearms Training Performance among Active Law Enforcement Officers in the USA

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of differing stressors, associated with common exercises for handgun training of law enforcement officers, on performance and heart rate. Law enforcement officers were tested in groups for static shooting, shooting with running, and simulated combat; shoot-house exercises were performed individually. The firearms exercises performed on hit rate percentages yielded a significant effect on performance. Post hoc testing indicated that simulation and shoot-house exercises were significantly different from all other drills. Static shooting hit rate and run-shoot hit rate drills were significantly different from the simulation and shoot-house drills, but were not significantly different from each other. The firearms exercises also resulted in a significant effect on heart rates. Post hoc testing indicated significant differences in only two comparisons: static shooting and shoot-house exercises, and static shooting and simulation. Finally, a Pearson's r correlation performed on hit rate percentages and heart rate data resulted in a significant negative correlation r = .49. The differences between exercises in both performance and heart rate suggest that training that is more similar to actual force-on-force situations decrease performance and increase heart rate. Based on these findings, it would seem that training programmes should incorporate a greater proportion of training time devoted to combat situations involving high-stress exercises.