Lost in transition: The effects of transitioning between firearms and electronic control devices (ECDs) on perception-response times (PRTs)
| Author | Paul L Taylor,Paul Sipe,Lon Bartel |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X211044135 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2023, Vol. 96(1) 103–116
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X211044135
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
Lost in transition: The effects
of transitioning between
firearms and electronic
control devices (ECDs) on
perception-response times
(PRTs)
Paul L Taylor
School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA
Paul Sipe
City of Mesa Police Department, Mesa, AZ, USA
Lon Bartel
Department of Training and Curriculum, VirTra
®
, Tempe, AZ, USA
Abstract
The researchdescribed in this article testedthe perception-responsetimes for experienced
police officersto transition from a firearm to a TASER and froma TASER to a firearm. The
theoretical models and police training on use of force have largely ignored the temporal
space between force modalities. Escalating through force modalities has by default been
treated asequivalent, in task and timing,to deescalating through forcemodalities. This study
employed a randomized controlled experiment using a police firearms training simulator
and 139 active law enforcement officers. The average perception-response time for
transition from a TASER to a firearm was 2.49 seconds for experienced police officers in
response to an anticipated visual stimulus in a laboratory setting. The average perception-
response time for transition from a firearm to a TASER was 4.7 seconds for experienced
police officers in a response to an anticipated visualstimulus in a laboratory setting. 70% of
the officers thatparticipated in the study had neverparticipated in department training that
required them to transition between a firearm and a TASER.The findings demonstrate that
moving from TASER to firearm and from firearm to TASER arenot equivalent tasks. In the
Corresponding author:
Paul L Taylor, School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver, 1380 Lawrence St #500, Denver CO
80204, USA.
Email: paul.taylor@ucdenver.edu
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