Few police calls required force in 2016

MOST INCIDENTS INVOLVED MEN

Lethbridge police reported use-offorce incidents in less than half a per cent of their calls for service in 2016, a report through the LPS Training Unit has revealed.

Sgt Jim Olsen with the Training Unit recently presented the annual Subject Behaviour - Officer Response report to the Lethbridge Police Commission.

Overall, 115 use-of-force reports through 30,799 calls for service represents a rate of .37 per cent.

The 115 reports made in 2016 are split between 43 Category I incidents, which includes drawing or displaying a firearm or energy weapon; use of leg restraints, and application of a “spit mask”; and 72 Category II incidents, including use of certain control techniques above “empty hand (hard),” pointing a firearm at a person, use of intermediate weapons, force resulting in injury to officers or subject; and discharge of a firearm or energy weapon, or serious incidents or complaints. Both categories saw reductions in 2016 over the previous year.

The use-of-force report includes statistics on when and where these incidents occurred.

August saw the highest number of incidents at 15 per cent, followed by February and July at 11 per cent.

Thirty per cent of the incidents occurred between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. — almost double the next-highest time range of 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. (17 per cent).

Use-of-force locations occurred 37 per cent of the time in northside Lethbridge, followed by southside at 33 per cent. Downtown Lethbridge reported only four per cent of use of force incidents.

Subjects requiring use of force were male 80 per cent of the time, with weight most often between 160 lbs and 200 lbs and heights most often between 5’7” and 6’ tall. The subject was between the ages of 26 to 35 in 37 per cent of the incidents.

In 2016, 86 per cent of subjects requiring use of force were perceived as being agitated, emotionally disturbed, and/or intoxicated with either drugs or alcohol.

The conclusion drawn by the report indicated that sober and rational people are less likely to become involved with a confrontation with police resulting in a use of force by officers.

“When someone has had a bad weekend and all of the sudden they get into some trouble, that’s not a mental health issue,” Olsen said. “That’s a person in crisis issue. So we try to make sure to separate those.”

Overall, 43 per cent of incidents requiring use of force occurred during the initial verbal or contact phase of placing a subject under arrest, while 81 per cent of the occurrences involved first responder units such as patrol officers or K-9.

The report cited the fact these officers are often sent into unknown situations which may require immediate intervention.

Overall, 76 per cent of use of force incidents resulted in no injuries to subjects. A single incident required a subject to be hospitalized.

No injuries to officers were reported in 95 per cent of use-of-force incidents in 2016. Four officers (one per cent) received injuries requiring minor treatment.

The report concluded with a number of recommendations, including more accuracy needed in reporting subject behaviour between dispatch and responding officers — which resulted in some reports appearing to incorrectly show police responding with more force than necessary.

Further training was provided to the Tactical Unit to help the unit correctly fill out its reporting, which had not been completed in eight out of eight incidents.

Police have been receiving more training in regards to self defence following two separate incidents in the past two years involving an officer being attacked and another involving an officer involved in a seven-minute fight with a subject.

More officers are being trained in ground combat techniques after one officer received certification through the Gracie Ground Fighting Academy.

Additionally, officers are making use of increased scenario-based training.

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