Shoot or Don’t Shoot? Tactical Gaze Control and Visual Attention Training Improves Police Cadets’ Decision-Making Performance in Live-Fire Scenarios

Abstract

Police officers often encounter potentially dangerous situations in which they strongly rely on their ability to identify threats quickly and react accordingly. Previous studies have shown that practical experience and targeted training significantly improve threat detection time and decision-making performance in law enforcement situations. We applied 90-min traditional firearms training as a control condition (35 participants) and a specifically developed intervention training (25 participants) to police cadets. The intervention training contained theoretical and practical training on tactical gaze control, situational awareness, and visual attention, while the control training focused on precision and speed. In a pre- and posttest, we measured decision-making performance as well as (tactical) response preparation and execution to evaluate the training. Concerning cognitive performance training (i.e., decision-making), the number of correct decisions increased from pre- to posttest. In shoot scenarios, correct decisions improved significantly more in the intervention group than in the control group. In don’t-shoot scenarios, there were no considerable differences. Concerning the training of response preparation and execution in shoot scenarios, the intervention group’s response time (time until participants first shot at an armed attacker), but not hit time, decreased significantly from pre- to posttest. The control group was significantly faster than the intervention group, with their response and hit time remaining constant across pre- and posttest. Concerning the training of tactical action control, the intervention group performed significantly better than the control group. Moreover, the intervention group improved the tactical handling of muzzle position significantly. The results indicate that a single 90-min session of targeted gaze control and visual attention training improves decision-making performance, response time, and tactical handling of muzzle position in shoot scenarios. However, these faster response times do not necessarily translate to faster hit times – presumably due to the motor complexity of hitting an armed attacker with live ammunition. We conclude that theory-based training on tactical gaze control and visual attention has a higher impact on police officers’ decision-making performance than traditional firearms training. Therefore, we recommend law enforcement agencies include perception-based shoot/don’t-shoot exercises in training and regular tests for officers’ annual firearm requalification.

When failure is not an option: a police firearms training concept for improving decision-making in shoot/don’t shoot scenarios

“…The aforementioned studies (especially the findings of Heusler and Sutter, 2022 ) indicate that good decision-making is based on the optimized perception of visual information: Situational awareness (i.e., constantly monitoring the surrounding) is prerequisite to improved tactical gaze control and visual attention (i.e., shifting gaze to hands and hip region; detecting and focusing on potentially hazardous objects; if necessary, drawing the service weapon but maintaining a low muzzle position while keeping both eyes open). The latter facilitate the processing of critical stimuli (i.e., hazardous objects) which affects decision-making substantially.…”

“…To optimally prepare police officers for situations in which they may or may not have to use their firearms, they must know about what to expect (situational awareness), what to focus on (tactical gaze control and visual attention), and how to guide their decisions (decision-making). Perceptual performance and tactical gaze control significantly improve with just one or a few training sessions ( Helsen and Starkes, 1999 ; Nieuwenhuys and Oudejans, 2011 ; Heusler and Sutter, 2022 ). In line with previous studies ( cf.…”

“…In line with previous studies ( cf. McCraty and Atkinson, 2012 ; Neuberger, 2013 ; Biggs et al, 2015 , 2022 ; Hamilton et al, 2019 ; Preddy et al, 2019 ; Biggs and Pettijohn, 2022 ), Heusler and Sutter (2022) showed that their cognitive training can improve police cadets’ performance in shoot/don’t shoot scenarios. In general, cognitive training is intended to improve broad-ranging cognitive skills such as the aforementioned perception (visual, auditive, etc.…”

“…In a more sophisticated field study, Heusler and Sutter (2022) designed an intervention training as realistic as possible (by using live ammunition and dynamic video scenarios), which improved police cadets’ performance in shoot/don’t shoot live fire scenarios. In contrast to most of the previous studies, the authors focused on situational awareness, tactical gaze control, and visual attention.…”

“…For the present study, we designed an individual video-based intervention training that was based on the 4C/ID and inspired by the field study of Heusler and Sutter (2022) . Our research aim was to verify this intervention training’s efficacy on shoot/don’t shoot performance in a lab experiment.…”