Shooting competence of law enforcement officers as an indicator of their professionalism

Karimov Al'bert Amirovich PhD in Pedagogy Head of the Department of Tactical and Special Training of the East-Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 664074, Russia, Irkutsk region, Irkutsk, Lermontov str., 110 aa550@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

            Police officers who are well-versed in the skills and abilities in handling weapons are able to successfully perform operational tasks in emergency situations personally, as well as direct the actions of squads and units in the confrontation with armed criminals. Inept handling of weapons in the suppression of offenses is a danger both for the employee himself and for the surrounding citizens. Cases of inept use of firearms in the suppression of offenses or its unlawful use by police officers have an extremely negative impact on the assessment of the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs by citizens and discredit the Department of Internal Affairs and public authorities in general.

In the process of implementing work programs on fire training, the main tasks of the discipline are determined, which consist in the formation of cadets' stable skills in handling firearms that are in the internal affairs bodies; in ensuring the readiness of employees to act with weapons in various situations of official activity and the legal suppression of illegal actions with weapons.

According to the analysis of information and analytical reviews on the practice of using firearms by police officers over the past five years, "the applications are of a diverse nature, differing in different conditions (weather, time of day and year, etc.)."

According to the results of research conducted by A.R. Kosikovsky, Z.I. Tagirov ^[10], "it can be concluded that more than 70% of cases of police weapons are used in conditions that can be characterized as conditions of confounding factors that differ from ideal training conditions in shooting galleries of educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia."

According to the results of research by V.M. Zhukov, I.V. Penkov, A.M. Vorozhtsov, it was found that "the main factor influencing the decision on the use of weapons is the inability to choose the right tactical option for the use of weapons, insufficient legal training, psychological unpreparedness, weak technical training. As a result, "there are frequent cases of non-use of firearms by them in situations where it practically should have been used, since there are all grounds for this" ^[7].

Having studied this problem, D.V. Litvin, V.G. Lupyr, came to the opinion that "an employee performing official duties may find himself in a situation requiring a decision on the use of weapons, when he will face a choice – to use or not to use a measure of direct coercion by means of firearms" ^[12].

According to the results of N.V. Astafyev's research conducted with students of FGKU DPO "TIPK of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia", studying under the professional training program for the position of "Policeman". He found that "about 80% have a low level of fire readiness reliability (the coefficient of variation of estimates is more than 33%)."

Thus, the problem of the use of firearms by police officers is the most relevant and at the same time debatable. It is obvious that the employees of the internal affairs bodies are insufficiently prepared for the use of their service firearms. In our opinion, there is a need to develop scientifically based pedagogical methods on this problem.

The methodological basis of the work was the works of N. V. Astafiev, L. M. Weinstein, V. M. Zatsiorsky, V.M. Zhukov, A.M. Vorozhtsov, N. J. Bulgakova, S. A. Ivanov-Katansky, D. I. Kozlov, A. Ya. Korkha, I. V. Penkov, A. A. Potapov, B. E. Mikhailov, A. Larin, R. M. Ragimova, V. B. Fedortsova.

For a correct scientific understanding of the principles of the formation of shooting competence among the police officers in fire training, it is necessary to understand the basic concepts.

In the dictionary of the system of basic concepts, "formation means the use of techniques and methods (methods, means) of influencing a person in order to create a system of certain values, knowledge and skills.

In pedagogy, "formation" is used both as a result of human development and as an organizational activity of a teacher for education and training ^[16].

It is known that "competence (from Lat. competentia – belonging by right) is defined as: "the terms of authority of any body or official, the range of issues in which this person has knowledge, experience" ^[1]. The term "competence" appears in regulatory legal documents regulating fire training in the Department of Internal Affairs as an attribute of professionalism.

Professional competencies are the ability of an employee to perform work in accordance with the requirements of a specialty, position, and the requirements of a position are tasks and standards for their performance adopted in an organization or industry. In our case, this is the law enforcement activity of an internal affairs officer related to the legal use of firearms.

Competence is the possession of competencies, that is, knowledge, skills and abilities that allow you to judge something, perform certain work, actions. Regarding fire training, these are clear firearm skills that allow you to use it lawfully, quickly and tactically competently, without consciously controlling the sequence of your actions.

Therefore, it is important to form shooting competence among law enforcement officers in the field of their use of firearms. Let's consider the formation of shooting competence among students on the example of cadets of educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

As a result of our research, we introduce the concept of "Shooting competence". The meaning of the term "Shooting competence" means the theoretical and methodological readiness of a person, the level of development of his mental and physical qualities to perform tasks and duties related to the use of small arms. Shooting competence presupposes the possession of the skills of functional stability of the body to the conditions of activity, which are of an extreme nature against the background of emotional stress.

Shooting competence is also of a criterion nature, which makes it possible to assess human activity in the field of handling small arms.

Shooting competence is a component of professional competence for law enforcement officers, law enforcement and security agencies. Shooting competence is determined by the degree of general training of the shooter, his knowledge, skills, psychological qualities and acmeological invariants ^[5].

Theoretical and methodological analysis of scientific literature and dissertation research on the studied problem has shown that the term "Shooting competence", which we use in our article, is new in determining the quality of preparedness of a police officer, in his ability to show certain qualities of character in achieving the tasks (Table 1).

Table 1

The model of shooting competence

C-track competence
1	Knowledge of the material part of the weapon
2	The ability to eliminate delays when shooting
3	Steady skills in shooting weapons from any position
4	Psychological preparedness for the use of weapons
5	The principle of safety in handling weapons
6	Knowledge of legal acts on the use of weapons

     In our opinion, the readiness to use firearms is influenced by two main factors: psychological and psychophysiological.

According to previously published materials, we believe that, "the psychological factor depends on two conditions: the confidence of the shooter in the rightness of his actions and the confidence of the policeman in the moral rightness of his actions, since it is psychologically difficult to shoot a living person, no matter how dangerous a criminal he is. By pulling the trigger, the employee must overcome the psychological barrier and prevent long thoughts – to shoot or not to shoot. Delay in making a decision can lead to a threat to human life and health. In such cases, fractions of a second can be decisive ^[8].

It is known that "psychophysiological is determined by the shooter's reaction to the stimulus, as well as psychomotor developments or skills. It is known that a person is not able to be constantly ready for battle. A sudden attack by an enemy (criminal) gives the latter key advantages. A change in the level of readiness should also become an unconscious reaction of a person to changes in the environment ^[8].

Shooting competence acts as one of the conditions for the formation of young people as future professionals of the internal affairs bodies.

According to O.V. Kopova, in the period of 17-20 years, young people have an active cognitive mental process. During this period, they are determined with their professional orientation, which is influenced by personal motivations and social attitudes ^[9].

In the course of the study, we identified a step–by-step process of the formation of shooting competence, based on the theory of the construction of humanitarian systems by E.N. Gusinsky ^[3], that "humanitarian systems are systems that are created (in the unity of conscious and unconscious mechanisms) in the process of human activity, in the process of cognition and modeling of the external and internal world and they have a complex, multi-valued subsystem composition and a multidimensional space of degrees of freedom."

According to O. L. Podlinyaev, "personality can be considered as an independent humanitarian system, consisting, in turn, of a multidimensional set of integral personal subsystems (education, intelligence, culture, etc.), providing a person with various degrees of his humanitarian freedom and humanitarian opportunities" ^[13].

Summarizing the "structural and functional theory of the formation and development of humanitarian systems", developed within the framework of the humanitarian-systemic approach of E.N. Gusinsky, we reduced it to the level of general stages (using the example of fire training of cadets) ^[3].

We have established that by enrolling in a paramilitary university, cadets perceive themselves as a sufficiently competent person in fire training. They have certain knowledge in the field of small arms systems, ammunition, equipment, that is, many are able to distinguish a pistol from a machine gun, can recognize a grenade by its appearance, know the history of some types of small arms, have the skills of shooting from small-caliber weapons; some cadets shot

from a hunting weapon or a combat pistol; some cadets were engaged in shooting sports.

At this stage, the interconnected complex of knowledge about weapons, general concepts and ideas about fire training, about the successful possession of shooting skills, about the success of mastering the training program for fire training, do not cause internal contradictions. Fire training classes at the initial training period are held in the form of lectures, seminars. When preparing for them, no special efforts of will, mental and physical tension are required. The feeling of a comfortable state at the first stage is not able to serve as factors for the further growth of the "cognitive system". At the first stage, which can be called the "primary competence stage", the student subjectively "feels" like a competent person ^[13].

But due to the further complication of the training program, the appearance of practical classes on the development of techniques and methods of shooting, the humanitarian system, that is, the cadet, loses its stability, self-sufficiency. Skills in the production of a shot, the performance of mental and physical work in a complex, which up to this time the cadets did not commit, leads to a stage of "competence crisis". At this stage, the cadets begin to practically shoot a pistol. For many, targeted shooting does not work, in this case, the cadet, as a humanitarian system, feels that the experience he had is not enough. The humanitarian system tries to solve the emerging problems of mastering the initial skills in the production of a shot with familiar ideas and methods that do not lead to their solution, dissatisfaction appears, anxiety increases, a feeling of inferiority or helplessness arises. According to E.N. Gusinsky, "such a state is uncomfortable for the humanitarian system, the system seeks to get out of it" ^[3]. According to research, the cadet at this stage is trying to blame the teacher for his failures, trying to deny the teaching methodology.

However, the denial of the methodology, the incompetence of the teacher does not bring the humanitarian system out of crisis. At this period, it is important for the cadet to reconsider his ideas about the technique of firing a shot. In the course of the study, we found that the cadets had ideas about shooting as a simple uncomplicated action, as shown in action films (in films with plots and scenes of violence and shooting), in which the heroes easily hit the target from any type of weapon, from any position, while not spending any effort.

The teacher at this period needs to show and convince the cadet that his ideas are wrong, that mental, physical and volitional efforts are required to achieve professionalism.

According to O.L. Podlinyaev, "in this case, the teacher should allow the cadet to choose "the direction corresponding to the internal trends of its development." The humanitarian system is enriched with new knowledge and other cognitive components. In turn, the productivity of the cadet using new knowledge and experience increases. The authority of the subsystem components is being strengthened, which make it possible to regain competence in previously crisis degrees of freedom."

Let's consider the conditions for the formation of shooting competence through the prism of the pedagogical triad "knowledge – skills – skills".

We know "that on the basis of knowledge, initial skills, simple and complex skills, students form complex skills. Complex skills" are characterized by the assimilation of a complex action performed in unfamiliar conditions that have not yet had to act. Complex skills are especially evident in non-standard situations. For example, a cadet who has perfectly mastered the theory of the "shot", who is well-versed in simple skills in aiming, firing the trigger, does not get the result he expected. After analyzing all his actions, the cadet independently finds the cause and eliminates the error in his actions. A high level of development of a number of complex skills is skill.

Schematically, the structural groups of the main components in the process of becoming a professional can be represented as a ladder leading to mastery (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. The scheme of the formation of mastery

According to previously published materials by D.E. Skvortsov, "skills and abilities obtained within the walls of an educational organization should have such properties as flexibility, strength and complexity. These properties are important to keep in mind when implementing the educational process. Flexibility and strength of skills and abilities allow them to be used effectively" in official activities ^[15].

Thus, in the formation of skills and abilities in shooting, there is a condition for the independent analysis of students of each of their actions. A true master of his craft will become a student when he can collectively apply high knowledge, skills, abilities based on important personality qualities in any conditions of his activity ^[5].

As it is known, the basis of lasting memorization of the material is the application of the acquired knowledge in practice. The formation of skills in shooting from combat weapons can be divided into several periods.

In the first period of skill formation, according to A. Larin, "there is a unification of private actions into one whole. When performing individual techniques, the student makes a lot of mistakes, unnecessary movements, stops. There is stiffness of actions, excessive physical effort" ^[11].

The second period of skill formation is characterized by the elimination of unnecessary movements, stops and tension. If, for example, at the first stage the student is insecure with a weapon, makes sharp movements during the trigger pull or, on the contrary, is overly cautious, then in the second period such stiffness disappears, his movements become measured, smoother, physically less effort is spent. However, attention is still focused on the ways of performing actions, under the relentless control of consciousness, and not on the final goal ^[11]. During this period, the teacher can show the student the method of ideomotor training.

In a number of studies, it was found that "an employee who knows ideomotor techniques has the opportunity to maintain and improve technical fire readiness in any situation, to work out musculoskeletal and other ideas, training the attention necessary for effective shooting. Ideomotor training is a mental reproduction of the studied techniques and actions aimed at consolidating motor skills, maintaining a state of readiness to perform exercises" ^{[15, 16]}.

The third period is characterized by the switching of consciousness control from the ways of performing actions to the final result. During this period, the automated execution of actions takes place.

According to V.A. Toropova, "the actions and techniques performed, their sequence should become an automatic reaction of the policeman's psyche to a change in the situation. To do this, the studied technique should turn into a motor skill. To turn an action into a motor skill, it is necessary to perform it 3000-5000 times" ^[16].

In the fourth period, consciousness performs not only a controlling function, but thinking is also actively involved in this process. During this period, there is a thought process about the implementation of actions in different ways and in different conditions ^[11].

The most important condition for the success of skill formation is the teacher's careful observation of the students' actions, the identification of all errors and the conscious elimination of these errors in subsequent classes. It is known that speech accompaniment of performed actions has a positive effect on the formation of skills and abilities.

According to previously published materials by O.V. Kopova, "the conditions affecting the formation of shooting competence should include:

– development of interest in a certain activity of the shooter, the specialty of the student;

– activation of consciousness, thinking, imagination, will, elimination of patterns, elements of mechanical memorization;

– encouraging students to continuously improve their knowledge, skills and abilities, bridging the gap between the knowledge system and the skills system;

– creating an environment for proactive, creative use of knowledge and skills and abilities, searching for new techniques in working out issues that, it would seem, have been studied for a long time;

– identification of sports important qualities for this specialty and their development in the student;

– consideration of temperament and character in the process of training and education of the student, identification and development of his abilities;

– strengthening the emotional and volitional sphere of students so that they can fully demonstrate their knowledge, skills and abilities in difficult conditions of sports activity" ^[9].

There are a number of difficulties that seriously affect the quality of acquired knowledge. These difficulties are quite stable and indicate that not all mental processes associated with the acquisition of knowledge proceed at a high level. Such difficulties include:

- adaptation at the initial stage of training at the University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: there is a difficult period of entry of cadets into educational and service activities, which affects all aspects of the life and activities of the cadet and has a significant impact on their academic performance;

- separation of cadets from the educational process associated with serving in various types of daily attire: a cadet misses a whole school day, and for a calendar month such passes accumulate up to 10 days.

If the cadet did not have time to learn the training material during the hours of independent preparation, then he may not have free time later, since he must necessarily be at sports and mass events, or cultural and educational, or cleaning the territories assigned to the study group.

Another difficulty in obtaining knowledge by cadets is that missed classes due to service in the outfit, as a rule, are studied by them independently. The quality of such a study is at a low level. If we talk about fire training, then training should be accompanied under the guidance of a teacher, as a prerequisite for obtaining the necessary skills and abilities.

As a result of the study of this problem, V.P. Davydov, V.P. Salnikov, V.Ya. Slepov showed that "the study of the dynamics of cadets' attitudes to these difficulties showed that well-performing cadets work out a model of the educational process faster and better, characterized by systematic work, its organization, objectivity of assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of their activities, continuity and expediency of making there are adjustments to it. And, on the contrary, poorly performing cadets model their educational activities in such a way that there is no consistency, planning, but there is a biased, as a rule, overestimated assessment of opportunities, which leads to the inability to make the necessary adjustments to educational activities" ^[4].

Consequently, the leading conditions for the effectiveness of the formation and development of competencies in the classroom are the use and application of modern technologies, which increases the desire of students for self-education, self-education within the framework of the formation of professional competencies for future activities.

Conclusion. The results of the conducted research have shown that the process of personality formation is a complex, multifaceted and contradictory dialectical process caused by a variety of external and internal factors, accumulated life experience in social conditions.

One of the pedagogical conditions in the formation of the shooting competence of cadets is the competent organization of the educational and training process, the purposeful use of methods and forms of training (classes). It is important that the training has an individual approach.

It follows from this that the teacher should strive to ensure that the main content of the educational material is constantly maintained as an object of perception of the cadets, not to allow it to turn into a background part, using the basic principles: clarity, gradualness "from simple to complex", which must be observed necessarily.

In our opinion, teachers from the first day of work with future officers are obliged to prepare the basis for the formation of the ability to carry out actions to forcibly suppress offenses, detain and escort offenders, lawfully and effectively use service weapons, special means in the activities of law enforcement agencies. Shooting competence is a component of professional competence for law enforcement officers, law enforcement and security agencies. Shooting competence considers all the components that a person dealing with weapons should possess.

Conclusion. Based on the theoretical analysis of pedagogical and psychological literature, we have identified the main categories of research as personality, factors affecting its development and formation; competence, as one of the criteria for evaluating the activity of personality; cognitive psychological qualities of personality, as a factor contributing to professional growth, personality development. The system of criteria for the shooting competence of cadets was tested on the example of fire training. Shooting competence is a component of professional competence for law enforcement officers, law enforcement and security agencies. As a result of the research, a model of shooting competence was created, in which all the components that a person dealing with weapons should possess are considered.

The prospects. Due to the fact that there are different approaches to the problem of forming the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities in fire training, it is necessary in further research to generalize and develop methodological recommendations for managing the process of forming stable personality traits and qualities and professionally important shooting competencies of employees necessary for their successful professional activity.