Kent State University (KSU) Shares Results of First MILO Range Simulator Study on the Impact of Body-Worn Cameras on Police Officer Performance.

KSU’s Electrophysiological Neuroscience Laboratory of Kent (ENLoK), led by Dr. Will Kalkhof, conducted research “…to explore whether officer performance during simulated critical incidents is impaired by camera-induced attentional conflict.” Citing research supported an increased cognitive load and stress arousal associated with the use of body-worn cameras during critical incidents. The study focused on the potentially negative impact on officer “shoot/don’t shoot” related decisions, associated reaction time, and shooting performance. To conduct the study, ENLoK partnered with a “medium-sized, Midwestern police department” in the United States.

To simulate critical incident scenarios involving “shoot/don’t shoot” decisions, ENLoK employed the MILO Range Pro Training System, “a portable training simulator that provides interactive and highly realistic critical incident training for law enforcement officers and military personnel.” In addition, police officers participating in the study were “fitted with an electroencephalogram (EEG) cap for measuring brainwaves and electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes for measuring cardiac activity” to “better understand how officers deal with the complex demands placed on them during critical incidents.”

The study revealed that “…camera monitoring had complex, often deleterious, effects on cognitive load, stress arousal, and performance.” The research “… sheds much-needed light on performance and safety issues related to camera monitoring of policing, such as with BWCs, which could have implications for police training (e.g., developing regimens to counteract attentional conflict). “We’re at the crossroads of bench science, practice, training, and education. We’re bringing that all together, all of us coming together at the same table to better understand how technology affects policing and how we can best deploy that technology to make policing better and safer for everybody.”- Dr. Will Kalkhof.

The complete study can be found at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11896-022-09519-5 and will be featured in the September 2022 issue of Journal of Police & Criminal Psychology.

For additional information on the Kent State University/ Arotech Corporation Training and Simulation Division (ATSD) partnership, or to find out how your organization can leverage the MILO Pro Training System to support critical-incident or other high-priority training, contact Amanda Williams, MBA, Cognitive Division Manager, at (609) 251-6103 or amanda.williams@milorange.com.