I found this article online. It’s from 2018 but it’s still relevant.
New study on shooting accuracy. How does your agency stack up?
Researchers analyzed 149 real-life OISs recorded over a 15-year period by Dallas (TX) PD. In nearly half of these encounters, officers firing at a single suspect delivered “complete inaccuracy.” That is, they missed the target entirely.
In 15 incidents, the total number of rounds fired could not be determined. But in the 134 cases where researchers could establish that figure, they calculated the hit rate, “incredibly,” at merely 35%. In other words, more than six out of 10 rounds fired were misses.
“Unfortunately,” the study says, “the data do not provide a clear picture of what happened with these [errant] rounds, but, at worst, they struck other officers or innocent bystanders.”
Once again, “Hollywood entertainment [that] routinely depicts the police as sharp shooters” falls far short of combat reality.
From the earliest measurements in the 1970s, a wide range of researchers have documented that “police departments rarely ever achieve a 50% hit rate,” the authors report. Annual hit-rate averages in large departments such as New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Las Vegas, for example, have typically ranged from 22% to 52% over the decades.
“Given the amount of firearms training the police receive, it would be assumed that they hit their target more often than not,” the researchers state. But the truth is that “officers are routinely inaccurate in their use of deadly force.”
Among all 149 shootings studied, officers struck the suspect “with at least one round 54% of the time.” There was some fluctuation from year to year, but the overall prevailing trend was about a 50/50 split between hits and misses—“not very accurate,” the researchers note.
Here, officers fired 354 rounds at suspects. Half the officers “were entirely inaccurate,” including one who fired 23 misses! Overall, about one-third (35%) of all officers’ rounds hit the targeted suspect. Most of those who had “perfect marksmanship” fired only one round.
The distances at which these shootings occurred was not provided but we know that 61% of police shootings happen within 20 feed and 50% within 15 feet, so we can assume at least half the shootings from the article were within 5 yards.
So three things to note.
Cops suck at accuracy. I understand that police shootings are stressful and I don’t want to to come across as a Monday morning armchair quarterback, but in a career where we pay people to carry guns and know how to use them in stressful and violent situations, we are not getting quality results.
This really demonstrates how impressive an 80% hit rate at 40 yards for self defense shooter is.
Since we do not have qualified immunity as civilians, we are responsible for every round we send down range. It is incumbent on ourselves to strive for perfect accuracy.
We need to train and train under stressful conditions.
Nothing matches the stress of a gunfight, but every stressed in practice helps.
Find an IDPA or USPSA match and sign up.
If you’ve never done it before, you will suck.
That’s fine. You will practice drawing, sighting, and shooting under the stress of a shot timer. That is good practice (and fun as hell).
You will get better and you will be better than someone who has never done it before.
Get out there and practice so you will be ready if the shit hits the fan.
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