The impact of personality traits and professional experience on police officers' shooting performance under pressure

The first shot counts the most: Tactical breathing as an intervention to increase marksmanship accuracy in student officers

In this study, we investigated the effect of tactical breathing (breath-based stress management) on marksmanship performance in a randomized between-subjects design. The total of n = 100 participants (18% female) were all student soldiers and randomly assigned to the intervention group (tactical breathing) or the control group. In the German Armed Forces shooting simulator, participants shot ten rounds at ten meters with the P8 (Heckler and Koch). In addition, the effect of neuroticism, fear of failure, and resilience on shooting performance and the interaction of those traits with the experimental condition were examined. Overall, the total hit score showed a strong ceiling effect, so the more difficult initial hit was primarily used as a performance criterion. None of the personality traits significantly affected the initial hit, and there were no interactions between the experimental condition and the personality traits. However, there was a significant difference in initial hit between the control and experimental group, as the tactical breathing group shot an average of 1.9 points better, t(98) = 8.489, p < .001, d = 1.698. Considering the initial shot, which was more difficult due to the uncocked trigger, tactical breathing proved to be an effective method for increasing marksmanship performance.

Factors Influencing Marksmanship in Police Officers: A Narrative Review

Law enforcement officers routinely face unpredictable scenarios that may threaten the public, their colleagues, or themselves. In such situations, officers may be required to use firearms, with shooting accuracy becoming crucial. This literature review aimed to identify, synthesize, and report on research investigating factors that affect marksmanship in law enforcement personnel. A systematic search of seven databases was undertaken following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach. From an initial 5396 identified studies, 23 met the eligibility criteria. The key findings from these papers were: (1) physical exertion does not appear to decrease shooting performance, especially at close range (<10 m); (2) tactical load carriage does not appear to decrease shooting performance; in fact, it has been reported by officers as improving performance (likely due to training specificity); (3) the physical capability of officers may be of importance, notably grip strength, which the volume of evidence suggests is positively correlated with marksmanship; (4) anxiety imparted through high-stress scenarios negatively impacts shooting performance, but training under stress may counteract this factor, albeit for a short period. Together, these factors appear to have a trainability component where increased specific and realistic training can improve shooting accuracy, time, and precision, especially in high-stress situations.

A systematic review of resilient performance in defence and security settings

A narrative systematic literature review was conducted to explore resilient performance in defence and security settings. A search strategy was employed across a total of five databases, searching published articles from 2001 onwards that assessed performance and optimal function in relation to resilience, in defence and security personnel. Following narrative synthesis, studies were assessed for quality. Thirty-two articles met inclusion criteria across a range of performance domains, including, but not limited to, course selection, marksmanship, land navigation, and simulated captivity. Some of the key findings included measures of mental toughness, confidence, and a stress-is-enhancing mindset being positively associated with performance outcomes. There was mixed evidence for the predictive value of biomarkers, although there was some support for cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and neuropeptide-y (NPY), and vagal reactivity. Interventions to improve resilient performance were focused on mindfulness or general psychological skills, with effects generally clearer on cognitive tasks rather than direct performance outcomes in the field. In sum, no single measure, nor intervention was consistently associated with performance over a range of domains. To inform future work, findings from the present review have been used to develop a framework of resilient performance, with the aim to promote theoretically informed work.

A Reasonable Officer: Examining the Relationships Among Stress, Training, and Performance in a Highly Realistic Lethal Force Scenario

Under conditions of physiological stress, officers are sometimes required to make split-second life-or-death decisions, where deficits in performance can have tragic outcomes, including serious injury or death and strained police-community relations. The current study assessed the performance of 122 active-duty police officers during a realistic lethal force scenario to examine whether performance was affected by the officer's level of operational skills training, years of police service, and stress reactivity. Results demonstrated that the scenario produced elevated heart rates (i.e., 150 beats per minute), as well as perceptual and cognitive distortions, such as tunnel vision, commensurate with those observed in naturalistic use of force encounters. The average performance rating from the scenario was 59%, with 27% of participants making at least one lethal force error. Elevated stress reactivity was a predictor of poorer performance and increased lethal force errors. Level of training and years of police service had differential and complex effects on both performance and lethal force errors. Our results illustrate the need to critically reflect on police training practices and continue to make evidence-based improvements to training. The findings also highlight that while training may significantly improve outcomes, flawless performance is likely not probable, given the limits of human performance under stress. Implications for the objective reasonableness standard, which is used to assess the appropriateness of force in courts of law, are discussed.

Perception during use of force and the likelihood of firing upon an unarmed person

Stress can impact perception, especially during use-of-force. Research efforts can thus advance both theory and practice by examining how perception during use-of-force might drive behavior. The current study explored the relationship between perceptual judgments and performance during novel close-combat training. Analyses included perceptual judgments from close-combat assessments conducted pre-training and post-training that required realistic use-of-force decisions in addition to an artificially construed stress-inoculation event used as a training exercise. Participants demonstrated significant reductions in situational awareness while under direct fire, which correlated to increased physiological stress. The initial likelihood of firing upon an unarmed person predicted the perceptual shortcomings of later stress-inoculation training. Subsequently, likelihood of firing upon an unarmed person was reduced following the stress-inoculation training. These preliminary findings have several implications for low or zero-cost solutions that might help trainers identify individuals who are underprepared for field responsibilities.

Stress-Activity Mapping: Physiological Responses During General Duty Police Encounters

Policing is a highly stressful and dangerous profession that involves a complex set of environmental, psychosocial, and health risks. The current study examined autonomic stress responses experienced by 64 police officers, during general duty calls for service (CFS) and interactions with the public. Advancing previous research, this study utilized GPS and detailed operational police records as objective evidence of specific activities throughout a CFS. These data were then used to map officers' heart rate to both the phase of a call (e.g., dispatch, enroute) and incident factors (e.g., call priority, use-of-force). Furthermore, physical movement (i.e., location and inertia) was tracked and assisted in differentiating whether cardiovascular reactivity was due to physical or psychological stress. Officer characteristics, including years of service and training profiles, were examined to conduct a preliminary exploration of whether experience and relevant operational skills training impacted cardiovascular reactivity. Study results provide foundational evidence that CFS factors, specifically the phase of the call (i.e., arrival on scene, encountering a subject) and incident factors (i.e., call priority, weapons, arrest, use-of-force), influence physiological stress responses, which may be associated with short-term performance impairments and long-term health outcomes. Implications of research findings for operational policing, police training, and health research are discussed.

Mindful Sensation Seeking: An Examination of the Protective Influence of Selected Personality Traits on Risk Sport-Specific Stress

Stress often has a negative influence on sports performance. Stress-induced decreases in performance can be especially disastrous for risk sports athletes, who often put their life at risk when practicing their sport. Therefore, it is of great importance to identify protective factors in stressful situations in risk sports. On average, risk sports athletes score extremely high on the personality trait sensation seeking. At the same time, theoretical considerations about dispositional mindfulness suggest that mindful athletes can handle stress more effectively. The main goal of this experiment is to examine the influence of sensation seeking and mindfulness on the stress response to a risk sport-specific stressor. To induce stress, 88 male students completed the Heidelberg Risk Sport-Specific Stress Test (HRSST) which utilizes fear of falling as the stressful event during a climbing exercise. Psychological (anxiety) and physiological (cortisol) responses were measured at multiple time points before and after the HRSST to determine the severity of the stress response. In reaction to the stressor, a significant increase in self-reported state anxiety, but no significant increase in cortisol were observed. The mindfulness subscale external observation correlated positively with anxiety in the climbing wall, sensation seeking and the anxiety scales after the jump correlated negatively and sensation seeking predicted anxiety subscales after the jump in hierarchical regression analyses. However, mindfulness did not predict anxiety measures. Neither sensation seeking nor mindfulness correlated significantly with cortisol levels. The results suggest that high sensation seekers perceive a risk sport-specific stressor as less stressful. The missing physiological response might be explained by the Cross-Stressor-Adaptation-Hypothesis and particularities of the sample. Good internal observers might be especially aware of their need of stimulation and new experiences, which in turn might explain the higher experience-seeking scores. Future studies should further examine the role of mindfulness in stressful situations and the interaction of its subscales with sensation seeking. The current experiment offers new possibilities for adjoining research fields at the interface between sports sciences, psychology and medicine: The findings can be transferred to high risk professions such as police officers, firefighters and military forces (e.g., for selection processes or for interventions).

The Contribution of Coping-Related Variables and Cardiac Vagal Activity on Prone Rifle Shooting Performance Under Pressure

Abstract. The aims of this study were to assess the predictive role of coping-related variables (CRV) on cardiac vagal activity (derived from heart rate variability), and to investigate the influence of CRV (and cardiac vagal activity) on prone rifle shooting performance under low pressure (LP) and high pressure (HP) conditions. Participants ( n = 38) competed in a shooting task under LP and HP. Cardiac vagal activity measurements were taken at baseline, task, and recovery for 5 min, alongside ratings of stress via a visual analogue scale. Upon task conclusion, self-report measures of motivation, stress appraisal, attention, perceived pressure, and trait CRV questionnaires (Decision-Specific Reinvestment Scale [DSRS], Movement-Specific Reinvestment Scale [MSRS], and Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire [TEIQue]) were completed. Results indicated that task cardiac vagal activity was predicted by resting cardiac vagal activity and self-control in HP and LP. Post-task cardiac vagal activity was predicted by resting cardiac vagal activity in both conditions with the addition of a trait and state CRV in HP. Cardiac vagal reactivity, the change from resting to task, was predicted by resting cardiac vagal activity and self-control in LP and HP. Cardiac vagal recovery, the change from task to post-task, was predicted by a trait CRV in HP. Shooting performance was predicted by experience and cardiac vagal activity in LP and cardiac vagal activity and a trait in HP. Findings suggest both CRV and cardiac vagal activity influence cardiac vagal activity throughout a pressure task. Additionally, shooting performance directly influences cardiac vagal recovery.