Investigating the Impact of In-car Communication on Law Enforcement Officer Patrol Performance in an Advanced Driving Simulator

The purpose of the proposed study is to provide an objective evaluation of law enforcement officer driving behavior and visual attention under standard patrol conditions. Using a sample of municipal law enforcement officers from several local law enforcement agencies, the goal of the study is to understand whether and how law enforcement officer effectiveness during patrol tasks is impacted by dispatch communication and in-vehicle devices. In order to achieve this goal, the study will evaluate the impact of the processing of information on officer driving/patrol behaviors, visual scanning patterns and situation awareness during simulated patrol activities. Additionally, the study will evaluate how increased information availability, such as that supported by in-car devices, may impact officer performance by using a simulator that will manipulate information provided to law enforcement officers to measure the impact not only on driving behavior but also on the officers attention to the environment. The study will also investigate the impact of information, both auditory (dispatch calls and other radio traffic) and visual (information provided by mobile data terminals and other in-vehicle devices), on law enforcement officer driving and monitoring of the environment while under normal patrol situations. ca/ncf