Suspect Control and Reaction Time

Excerpted from ForceScience News #257
(High-risk stops and suspect control – reaction time)

Question:

“My agency trains that on high-risk vehicle stops the suspects should be walked forward, facing the arresting officers. The reasoning is that if the subject draws a firearm from his/her waistband, the members will have more time to see and recognize the movement, as well as the object in hand, and react. I disagree. Looking at your research, a subject can draw a firearm from a front or rear waistband remarkably fast, come up on target, and fire. I don't believe we could process that action, confirm identification of a firearm, and fire a round (let alone multiple rounds) before the subject could draw unimpeded and fire at us. Also, walking forward the subject will have time to focus on their target before drawing and thus could quickly deliver a more accurate shot.If commanded to walk backward, however, a subject will have to spin before firing and will need time to process a potential target to be accurate. That would work to our advantage, I believe. Are my thoughts on this consistent with your research? Have there been studies on this particular issue? “

Response:

Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute, responds:

Yes, you are right: A suspect who is allowed to face officers as he is commanded to move toward them on a high-risk stop does gain a fractional time advantage in drawing and firing a gun tucked into his waistband.

Our research has shown that once a forward-facing offender's hand touches his gun, he can draw and fire at officers in an average of about a quarter-second. If, however, he must draw, spin around, and fire after reaching the gun, that typically takes from one-third to one-half second or longer depending upon the movement the person makes as they are turning and shooting. Plus, as you point out, with his back to officers he is not able to visually locate a target before making his move, which will hopefully impair his initial accuracy.

In practical terms, either way can be lightning fast and the assailant may well get shots off before officers can react.

A critical factor is where the suspect's hands are when he starts to make his move. If his hands are raised high above his head or stretched fully out to his side, reaching a waistband gun can take twice as long and require a more dramatic move. Also, a gun in a waistband is less stable than one that's holstered, so grasping and drawing the weapon in a fast drive-and-spin may be somewhat impeded.

Whatever tactic is used to bring a high-risk subject to a point of custody, it's critical that officers maintain the best cover possible during the process. This is particularly true for the officer issuing commands, because his or her voice can accurately betray location even to a suspect walking backward.

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