A report on precisely how Brantford Police officers use force and weapons on the job showed an extremely low frequency consistent with the previous year.
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At a recent police board meeting, Sgt. Pat Dietrich presented the 2022 report that showed officers either drew or used a weapon against the public on fewer than .3 per cent of its calls.
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“Our officers are fantastic at not showing up with lethal force,” Dietrich told the board.
“They’re doing a great job of using less lethal options, such as communication, long before lethal force.”
Brantford Police officers responded to 53,229 calls for service in 2022, an increase over the previous year of about 4.3 per cent.
During those calls, there were 154 incidents where some kind of force was used, including un-holstering a weapon, showing a taser, and pointing a firearm.
Those incidents resulted in 266 reports filed by various officers as the service monitors the use of force by the type, the days and times it tends to be applied, the area of the cityin which it’s applied, the rank and experience of the officers involved and even the weather.
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Dietrich said the majority of time force is used, officers are responding to calls about firearms, followed by knives and some kind of bat.
One person — a member of the emergency response team – submitted 20 use of force reports in 2022.
There were 17 injuries reported in 2022 from engagement with officers and four of those were to the officers themselves. Other injuries were considered minor.
ARWEN use went up by 46.5 per cent but only three rounds were actually discharged. The anti-riot weapon generally shoots a projectile meant to stun.
Handguns were drawn 86 times, drawn and pointed 84 times and used just once in order to destroy an animal.
Long gun carbines were shown 30 times, pointed 73 times and fired three times to destroy an animal.
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No aerosolized spray was used in 2022.
The Brantford Police trains all officers to use force as a last resort, after trying de-escalation techniques, mediation skills and less-lethal options like pepper spray, batons, tasers and ARWENs.
Legally, force can be used in order to arrest a suspect or prevent a continuing crime but, once an officer has control, force must no longer be escalated.
Dietrich said several years ago, when Brantford had a “younger” police department, there was a higher use of weapons.
“Now, the officers are drawing on their experience to talk to people and use other options.”
Dietrich added that officers are facing more replica guns, toy guns and weapons that have been modified into dangerous firearms these days.
Deputy Chief Jason Saunders said the officers are using “unbelievable judgment” and commended them.
@EXPSGamble
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