Gaze Control in Law Enforcement: Comparing a Tactical Police Unit to Patrol Officers
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Gaze Control in Law Enforcement: Comparing a Tactical Police Unit to Patrol Officers Benedikt Heusler1 · Christine Sutter1 Accepted: 14 October 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Police officers strongly rely on their ability to visually perceive threats accurately and quickly on a daily basis. Previous studies have shown that training and practical experience improve performance in life-threatening encounters. The present study compared the gaze patterns of highly trained police officers of a tactical unit (TU) to matched patrol officers (MP) and unmatched patrol officers (UP) in realistic video scenarios using a mobile eye tracker and a USB arcade gun. As hypothesized, the TU fixated the tactically crucial hands and hip region of a suspect significantly longer than the MP and UP. Vice versa, the MP and UP fixated the suspect’s face significantly longer than the TU. The results indicate that tactical training enhances efficient gaze control to a greater extent than practical routine. Therefore, the authors recommend regular training and education on this topic for law enforcement personnel to minimize the risk of death or severe injuries in high-stress situations. Keywords Law enforcement · Police · Gaze · Attention · Visual perception
Introduction Police officers often face potentially dangerous situations while on duty. Although worst-case scenarios—like armed attacks aimed at an officer’s life—are fortunately the exception, they may still happen at any given moment. Therefore, law enforcement personnel strongly rely on their ability to focus their attention, detect potential threats, evaluate situations quickly, and react adequately under pressure (Helsen and Starkes 1999; Vickers and Lewinski 2012). In high-stress situations, factors like anxiety, low self-control, inexperience, and poor professional judgment are known to reduce police officers’ shooting accuracy and decisionmaking. Hence, practical training, knowledge-based training, ethics training, and continued on-the-job training are crucial to maximizing performance in high-stress law enforcement situations (Biggs et al. 2015; Donner et al. 2017; Donner and Popovich 2019; Ho 1994; Nieuwenhuys & Oudejans 2010, 2011; Nieuwenhuys, Savelsbergh et al. 2012). Another determining factor in reducing risks in this context is knowledge of tactical gaze control. Police officers should be focused more on certain “dangerous” areas of a suspect’s body * Benedikt Heusler [email protected] 1
Institute of Traffic & Engineering Psychology, German Police University, Münster, Germany
than other “harmless” regions. For instance, an armed attacker trying to kill or critically injure an officer will most likely use their hands to do so. Firearms, knives, other dangerous objects, and even most detonators for explosives must be operated manually to pose an immediate threat to an officer’s life. Therefore, it is crucial that police officers shift their gaze and focus their visual attention on the hands and potential weapon concealments (mostly in the hip region) of
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