EP 30 "Bullpen “Lost in Transition: The Effects of Transitioning Between Firearms and Electronic Control Devices on Perception-Response Times.” with Dr. Paul Taylor

In this episode, we welcome back to the show, Dr. Paul Taylor. Paul is a Professor at University of Colorado Denver where he studies decision-making, human factors, and system safety in the context of police interactions with the public. He has over ten years of practical law enforcement experience including time as a department training manager, patrol sergeant, and use-of-force instructor. Paul is the founder of the Association of Force Investigators and has delivered law enforcement related instruction for academy, field training, and advanced in-service audiences as well as graduate and undergraduate level courses. Paul is actively engaged in law enforcement research and training across the United States and internationally. 

In this interview you will learn about a fascinating study with important training implications that was conducted on the ability, or more accurately, the lack of ability, of officers to effectively and efficiently transition between their sidearm and the Taser or between their Taser and their sidearm under time compressed events.

The ability for officers to have the requisite motor skill to be able to conduct these transitions is very important for officer and public safety. This study identifies significant gaps in performance and helps further our understanding of how to improve our training design and delivery to ensure we enable our officers to develop these essential skills.

As a reminder, the research paper referenced in this interview is appended to the show notes and free to download over at the Trainers Bullpen website at www.trainersbullpen.com