Expanded Taser training drives uptick in use of force reports among London police

CBC

4 days ago

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Police plan to continue expanding Taser rollout, calling them an effective de-escalation tool
London police officers reported using force on the job 17 per cent more often last year compared to the year prior, according to an annual report shared with the London Police Service (LPS) Board, Wednesday afternoon.
The report attributed the increase in use of force reports filed by officers to a rise in the use of conducted energy weapons, more commonly known as Tasers, which the report notes is driven by an effort to train and equip more officers with the devices.
As with last year, visible minority groups are over-represented in situations where officers use force, however the report notes there's no evidence of racial disparity in cases where firearms are pointed, drawn or fired, or where Tasers are discharged.
"We had 337 use of force reports submitted which were related to 308 distinct occurrences and 448 unique subjects [in 2024]. That would be an increase of 50 reports from 2023 to 2024," said London Police Inspector Angela Johnson, while presenting the report to board members.
The report presented by Johnson says 2023 saw 287 use of force reports filed.
LPS members are required to file the reports when an officer:
Draws a handgun in the presence of a member of the public.
Points a firearm at a person.
Discharges a firearm.
Uses a weapon on another person.
Draws and displays a Taser to someone with the intention of achieving compliance
Points a Taser at a person
Discharges a Taser.
Uses force on another person, including through a horse or dog in a way that results in an injury that requires medical care. This is contingent on the officer being aware that the injury required care before going off-duty.
Of the incidents in which force was used, the report says, de-escalation was attempted 86 per cent of the time. The rest of the incidents required immediate action.
The bulk of the use of force reports filed by officers in 2024 came from situations in which officers pointed firearms at people — a total of 230 times.
Still, the most significant year-over-year increase came from Tasers, according to the report. In 2024, Tasers were drawn 100 times, pointed at people or animals 110 times, and discharged 50 times.
When an officer fills out a report they can count multiple actions separately, such as drawing, pointing and discharging a Taser or handgun, which explains the large number of reports compared to the total number of incidents.
Police attribute the increase, in part, to the push to train and equip more officers with the devices. As the result of a conductive energy weapon expansion program in the police service, 352 officers were qualified to use Tasers in 2024, compared to 242 in 2023.
The increase also has to do with the reporting requirements police adhere to, according to LPS Deputy Chief Treena MacSween.
She said officers without Tasers more often have to physically restrain suspects, and if no injuries are sustained there is no requirement to report use of force.
"If that same situation were to occur and I was trained as a [Taser] operator, I pulled out my [Taser], didn't point it, didn't discharge it, but I displayed it in the presence of a member of the public. If he saw that I had the [Taser] out and ... turns around, puts his hands behind his back, I cuff him ... that would require a use of force report," MacSween explained.
MacSween said the LPS plans to continue the expansion of its Taser program, touting the simple presence of one of the devices as an effective de-escalation tool.
There was also a marked increase in canine-related use of force, accounting for more than 35 per cent of the total year-over-year increase. That increase is attributed in the report to the canine unit responding to more calls in 2024 than in 2023.
Weapons, warrants, intimate partner violence top use-cases
The report shows that 41 per cent of cases involved weapons calls, up from 34 per cent in 2023's report. 18 per cent involved the execution of warrants, and 10 per cent involved intimate partner violence.
The reasons officers claimed to have used force primarily involved, in descending order -- protecting themselves, protecting the people force was used against, protecting members of the public, and achieving an arrest.
Of the 448 unique people identified in use of force reports, police believed 82 per cent of them had possession or access to a weapon at the time force was used. 160 of those instances included the belief the subject had, or was near to, a handgun.
One person was killed by police in 2024, according to the report. Last year, police shot and killed an 18-year-old London man, who they say stabbed and killed his then-girlfriend.
The report also said use of force occurred more often in the downtown area than elsewhere.