In the line of duty, life-or-death decisions are made in less than a heartbeat, but it may be a police officer’s eye movement ‘ not their trigger finger ‘ that plays the biggest role.

Using her well-tested Quiet Eye method, University of Calgary researcher Joan Vickers recently analyzed the reactions of both elite and rookie police officers, with the Calgary Police Service participating in an exercise involving a simulated assailant.

What she found was that less-experienced officers tended to take a fleeting glance at the sight of their gun before opting to fire their weapon ‘ a move consistent with traditional training. Elite officers, instead, remained focused solely on the assailant and not only fired quicker but also more accurately.

“Even though the movements may be fast, the focus of attention isn’t,” Vickers said with respect to elite performers. “It’s early, it’s long, it’s quiet ‘ it’s a mind completely in control of the situation.”

Police Insp. Darren Leggatt said some of Vickers’ methods have already been incorporated into firearms training and anything that can shave precious milliseconds off an exchange with an armed offender is valuable.