Regina Police Service (RPS) resorted to uses of force less often in 2017 than the year before, but that didn’t stop the total uses of force from increasing 15 per cent.
RPS filed 169 use of force reports last year, down from 174 in 2016, but the number of times they used multiple force options during the same incident nearly doubled.
“The type of crime we’re investigating is changing. Whether it’s us escalating our response, or us responding to an escalation in gun crime, it’s definitely up,” Regina Police Chief Evan Bray said.
In 2016, RPS used a force action 264 times. That climbed to 304 in 2017, or 10 per cent higher than the five-year average.
“The police board is satisfied with the way things are going here,” noted Regina mayor Michael Fougere. “It feels overwhelmingly that police are using the right amount of force given the circumstance.”
“When I look at the thousands of contacts that we have with the public, and even the number of arrests we make – nearly 9,000 in a year – there were 304 different use of force options. That’s a pretty low percentage,” Chief Bray continued. “That’s part of the success story.”
A breakdown of the uses of force showed a marked increase in a trio of categories: Soft Physical Control, SWAT calls, and Vehicle Immobilization Tactics.
Soft Physical Control is a takedown involving injury, and Bray says they usually occur while handcuffing suspects. Over the past four years, RPS averaged 37. This year it was 52.
The increase in SWAT calls was also telling, up from 22 the year before to 31 in 2017. The four-year average is just shy of 18.
Pressed as to why police were resorting to using SWAT and increased aggression, Bray stated the challenges facing the department are different now than they were in the past.
“Gangs, drugs and guns are a challenge in our community. High-risk activity is constant, so when our officers are trying to bring about resolution in a very high-risk situation, they have to do it as swiftly as possible,” Bray argued.
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“Given the nature in crime, with more guns…I would argue a lot of restraint is being used, and the appropriate amount of force is being used in each case,” Mayor Fougere added.
The year-end report, presented at the Board of Police Commissioners Meeting, also included a regional breakdown of crime across the city.
North and South Central led the way, followed closely by the South district, then the North district.
Overall, there were 46,381 criminal occurrences, down from the nearly 48,000 in 2016.
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