Use of Force - Q2 2023-2024 (July-September)
Our officers face difficult situations every day.
A thankfully small percentage of these situations will result in the officer having to use force, be it to protect the public, maintain order or keep themselves from harm.
They are extensively trained to use this force proportionately, lawfully and only when it's absolutely necessary.
Please see below for some statistics relating to the p
eriod July to September 2023.
Incident Location
The information in the pie chart above is displayed in the table below.
| Incident Location | Number of Records |
| Street / Highway | 364 |
| Dwelling | 187 |
| Not Entered | 129 |
| Open ground (e.g. park, car-park, field) | 107 |
| Custody Block | 59 |
| Other | 36 |
| Retail premises | 14 |
| Police vehicle without prisoner handling cage | 6 |
| Hospital / A and E (non mental health setting) | 5 |
| Police station (excluding custody block) | 4 |
| Licensed Premises | 3 |
| Mental Health setting | 3 |
| Police vehicle with prisoner handling cage | 3 |
| Sports or event stadia | 3 |
| Ambulance | 2 |
| Public transport | 1 |
Impact Factor
The information in the pie chart above is displayed in the table below.
| Impact Factor | Number of Records |
| Alcohol | 376 |
| Drugs | 247 |
| Prior knowledge | 216 |
| Size/gender/build | 202 |
| Mental health | 189 |
| Possession of a weapon | 140 |
| Other | 131 |
| Not Entered | 62 |
| Crowd | 38 |
| Acute Behavioural Disorder | 17 |
Reason for Force
The information in the pie chart above is displayed in the table below.
| Reason for Force | Number of Records |
| Effect arrest | 577 |
| Prevent harm | 460 |
| Prevent escape | 435 |
| Protect other officers | 405 |
| Protect self | 347 |
| Protect public | 157 |
| Effect stop and search | 130 |
| Prevent offence | 122 |
| Protect subject | 107 |
| Effect search in custody | 48 |
| Effect other search | 30 |
| Secure evidence | 22 |
| Other | 20 |
| Remove handcuffs | 19 |
| Not entered | 13 |
Force Used
The information in the pie chart above is displayed in the table below.
| Force Used | Number of Records |
| Compliant handcuffing | 359 |
| Non-compliant handcuffing | 241 |
| Unarmed skills (including pressure points, strikes, restraints, and take-downs) | 235 |
| Limb/body restraints | 145 |
| C.E.D. | 106 |
| Ground restraint | 97 |
| Other/improvised | 53 |
| Irritant spray - PAVA used | 10 |
| Spit and bite guard | 10 |
| Irritant spray - PAVA drawn | 9 |
| Firearms aimed | 27 |
| Dog deployed | 17 |
| AEP drawn | 5 |
| Baton used | 1 |
| Shield | 1 |
| Baton drawn | 2 |
| Irritant spray - CS drawn | 2 |