1. That the contents of this report be received by the Board for its information.

As per the Board's Use of Force policy, a summary of the statistical information collected, identified trends and issues related to the Use of Force during 2006 are contained in this report.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND:

Police Officers are authorized to use a range of force options in response to an event or incident in order to protect life, preserve the peace, prevent crimes, maintain order and apprehend suspects. When an incident occurs and an officer uses any of these force options, a Use of Force Report must be completed. There may be several Use of Force Reports for each incident. The Use of Force Report provides a provincial wide standardized method for the collection of data from use of force incidents that occur during the day-to-day operations of a police service.

The authority and direction to collect use of force information are found in the Policing Standards Manual (procedure AI-012) and the Police Services Act (O. Reg. 926 s. 14.5). Procedure AI-012 came into force in 1993, and states in part the following ….

York Regional Police Use of Force Procedure #LE-069 sets out the duties of the Use of Force Review Board as follows:

The Use of Force Review Board shall:

1. meet and review the Use of Force summary monthly;
2. thereafter destroy Part B of the Use of Force Form 1 and file Part A of the Form in accordance with the Police Services Act R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 926 Section 14.5;
3. evaluate procedures relating to the drawing, exhibiting and discharge of firearms and the use of force generally;
4. evaluate training methods;
5. annually produce a Use of Force Study which provides critical use of force data and trends;
6. direct their findings to the attention of the Chief of Police, the Deputy Chief of Administration and the Deputy Chief of Operations.

Summary of the 2006 Use of Force Study:

• A total of 290 use of force incidents recorded on 406 Use of Force Reports were filed in 2006, which involved a total of 1210 officers. In 2005, there were 258 use of force incidents recorded on 368 Use of Force reports submitted which involved 958 officers. This change reflects a 12 per cent increase in the incidents requiring Use of Force reports from 2005 to 2006 and a 20.8 per cent increase in the number of involved officers.

• In 2006, there were 128.9 incidents requiring Use of Force Reports for every 100,000 demands for service. In 2005, that number was 79.7 Use of Force incidents per 100,000 demands for service, an increase of 49 incidents per 100,000 demands for service.

• Calls for service resulting in the use of force were varied in 2006 and in 2005. The percentage of calls that officers responded to that resulted in the submission of a use of force report are as follows:

• In 2006, 66 per cent of all use of force incidents involved more than one officer compared to 62 per cent in 2005. This represents a 4 per cent increase.

• In 2006, firearms were drawn 127 times and in 2005, they were drawn 192 times, which represents a 33.9 per cent decrease. The number of times a firearm was pointed at a person in 2006 was 191 and in 2005, it was 175, which is an increase of 8.4 per cent. Members draw their firearms when they believe on reasonable grounds that there is a threat and it is necessary to protect against loss of life or serious bodily harm, or to destroy an animal.

• The number of rounds discharged in 2006 was 91 arising out of 43 incidents and in 2005, it was 51 arising from 35 incidents. In 2006, shots were fired in 41 of the 43 incidents to humanely destroy an injured animal. The remaining incident involved the apprehension of a suspect.

• In 2006, 25 per cent or 73 of all Use of Force incidents involved an armed suspect, compared to 79 or 31 per cent in 2005. This represents a 6 per cent decrease in the number of Use of Force contacts with suspects who were armed with weapons

• In 2006, there were 40 Use of Force encounters where an officer was injured, a decrease of 51.8 per cent over the 2005 number of 127. Use of Force encounters where a subject was injured were 130 as compared with 127 in 2005, an increase of 2.3 per cent.

• In 2006, 223 of the 290 incidents requiring use of force reports were submitted by officers with less than 5 years of service or 77 per cent, compared with 150 of the 258 incidents, or 58 per cent in 2005, an increase of 22 per cent.

• The 290 use of force incidents resulted in 406 Use of Force reports being submitted; 258 or 89 per cent of the incidents involved uniform personnel (including Emergency Response Unit, Canine and Court Security Officers). The remaining incidents were submitted by members assigned to non-uniform duties such as Hold Up, Drugs and Vice, Auto Recovery and Criminal Investigations. Out of the 258 incidents submitted in 2005, 91 per cent involved uniform officers, a decrease of 2 per cent.

Areas of concern that have been referred to The Training and Education Unit by the Use of Force Review Board this year are as follows:

• Although officers have received instruction on the proper method to record information on the Use of Force report, there are still consistent recording mistakes being made on the reports. As part of the 2007 Annual Requalification, these identified mistakes are being reviewed and instruction is being provided to all officers on the proper method to record information.

• The Use of Force section of the Training and Education Unit should continually review and train all options to officers in regard to the Ontario Use of Force model. This training will continue to focus on threat recognition, communication, articulation as well as the effects stress has on the human body during a high risk event.

Use of force statistics from other policing organizations were sought in order to provide a meaningful comparison, however, those departments contacted could not or would not release their yearly statistics. The Province of Ontario does not compile use of force yearly statistics.

In conclusion, the review of the processes and methods that York Regional Police employ in reporting and dealing with the use of force confirms that this organization is in compliance with the Policing Standards Manual, the Police Services Act and York Regional Police Regulations and Procedures.