Use of force incidents by Halton police rise in 2017

Officers pointed a firearm at a person 71 times, up from 53

HALTON — Use of force occurrences by Halton police officers were up to 190 in 2017, from 164 the previous year.

The statistics were submitted as part of an annual report on use of force, presented recently to the Halton Regional Police Services Board.

The 190 reports of use of force stem from 118 incidents, including 16 involving people in crisis.

Nine involved police confronting a person armed with a firearm (or what turned out to be a replica firearm), while 14 incidents involved someone armed with a knife or edged weapon.

The report also said the number of times police officers pointed their firearm at someone was up from 53 in 2016 to 71 last year.

Halton police Chief Stephen Tanner said the numbers do not alarm him.

“When our officers are dealing with armed individuals, the Taser is not an appropriate alternative so they have to go straight to the firearm, which is a higher use of force,” he said.

“We’ve had a number of arrests immediately following, for example, bank robberies and armed people in Toronto who our surveillance team were following.”

Officers discharged their firearms during 11 incidents in 2017 — all of which the report says were to euthanize an injured or suffering animal.

The conducted energy weapon — more commonly known as the Taser — got less use in 2017 with 83 incidents reported, down from 93 in 2016.

In 59 of these incidents just pointing the Taser at someone was enough to gain compliance.

The report said soft physical control techniques such as joint locks, blocking and compliance techniques were used 18 times, down from 29 in 2016.

Hard physical control techniques such as punches, kicks and elbow strikes, were used 12 times, down from 20 in 2016.

In the report’s conclusion, police said while use of force incidents increased in 2017 over the previous year, an examination of incidents over the past five years indicates the amount of force used by officers has remained fairly consistent.

They also pointed out that last year, 22 incidents resulted in injury to the suspect and/or officer, with all but one being minor in nature.

Use of force includes occasions when police draw a handgun in the presence of a member of the public, point a firearm at a person, discharge a firearm, use a weapon other than a firearm, or use physical force that results in injury requiring medical attention.