Police gun use soars by 88%

Those aged between 18 and 34 were the most likely to have force or restraint applied, with 8,862 people. West Yorkshire Police also revealed that force was used against 24 children under the age of 11, and 67 people aged over 65.

The most likely reasons for officers to use force were to protect themselves (accounting for 12,875 occasions), followed by carrying out an arrest (9,983) and protecting their colleagues (9,791). Other reasons included protecting other members of the public, preventing a crime and gaining entry to properties.

In total, there were 16,165 occasions where West Yorkshire Police used force or restraint over the 12-month period, although many of these related to occasions where more than one type of force needed to be used.

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Kingsman said: “Keeping people safe across West Yorkshire sometimes means police officers intervene in dangerous or complex situations.

“On some occasions police officers have to use force to protect the public and protect themselves from harm. Force can mean for example, a form of restraint, handcuffing or use of PAVA spray.

“Our officers are trained to use the minimum level of force required to resolve an incident quickly and efficiently. Our officers are accountable for ensuring that use of force is lawful and is applied only when absolutely necessary.

“It is inevitable given the nature of the job that some calls require the use of force.” He added: “We deal with thousands of calls for service at West Yorkshire Police every day - it is inevitable given the nature of the job that we do to keep our communities safe that some of those calls will require the use of force.

“Police officers put themselves in harm’s way 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. This data set also shows that during the same time staff were physically injured 856 times.”

You can see the full list of Use of Force statistics on West Yorkshire Police website.