Calgary police used less force in 2024 than year prior: report
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The report, delivered to the Calgary police commission Wednesday, highlighted that the Calgary Police Service 's use-of-force incidents dropped nine per cent in 2024 compared to the year prior and were eight per cent down from the five-year average.
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Calgary police officers used physical force 818 times last year, according to the report, down from 901 incidents in 2023.
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The report highlights that 2023 saw the highest counts since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and 2024 marked a return to more typical volumes.
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Amtul Siddiqui, chair of the police commission, said it is encouraging that use-of-force has appeared to level out after the bump in 2023.
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'The CPS has a rigorous system for tracking and reviewing all incidents where officers use force, and the information learned helps shape future training to continually improve how officers approach situations,' she said in a statement.
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'Our commission has also placed a high priority on the CPS collecting and using race-based data. The latest report shows our shared commitment with the CPS to make sure that racial disparities are identified and analyzed for any systemic issues that need to be addressed.'
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The report also revealed a two per cent drop in overall police interactions with the public, from 588,407 interactions in 2023 to 574,246 in 2024. Use of force was used in 0.14 per cent of instances, or once for every 702 interactions between officers and the public.
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A Calgary criminologist said that while police used less force last year, that's partly because 2023 was an outlier. Outside of that year, the number of incidents has remained pretty similar for the last decade.
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'If you look at the numbers, you can get lost in percentages,' said Mount Royal University criminology professor Doug King. 'You have to watch about that because the numbers of use of force incidents are actually quite low, so an increase of 10 can really bump things up a bit.'
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In 2023, officers used their Tasers, also known as conducted energy weapons, 211 times, the report stated, which was well above the five-year average of 161. Last year, officers used their Tasers 165 times, marking a 22 per cent year-over-year drop.
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