Police handgun use down in 2016

WATERLOO REGION — Police drew their handguns 80 times last year, down about 20 per cent from 2015.

The annual use-of-force numbers were presented at a Waterloo Regional Police Services board meeting on Wednesday.

Deputy Chief Kevin Chalk said guns were drawn 80 times in 2016, and handguns were pointed 71 times. A gun was discharged once.

In 2015, guns were drawn 102 times and they were pointed 68 times. A gun was discharged three times in 2015.

Stun guns were drawn 12 times and pointed 41 times in 2016. Stun guns were fully used four times.

Chalk said all front-line officers will be trained on using stun guns by the end of 2017. He said the use of stun guns is low because the threat of a stun gun is enough to de-escalate most situations.

There were three reports of officers using a baton and three incidents of police using pepper spray.

In total, officers submitted 271 use-of-force reports in 2016.

Chalk said the provincial government is looking at the existing use-of-force guidelines. Police chiefs across Canada have asked for a review of the use-of-force model, he said.

Chiefs would like to see more focus on de-escalation techniques such as verbal interaction with the suspect to calm the situation, he said.

Locally, officer training focuses on de-escalation, Chalk said.

The police board also was told that officers were involved in 21 pursuits in which a driver refused to stop for police in 2016.

Chalk said police stopped 40,172 vehicles.

A pursuit is defined as a situation in which a driver refuses to stop for police when the lights and signals on police vehicles are on.

There were 11 pursuits in 2015, 24 in 2014, 19 in 2013 and 38 in 2012.