The latest numbers are in from Lethbridge police.
Officers responded to more than 36,000 calls in 2021.
And according to the LPS subject behaviour officer response report, 99.5 per cent of those calls were resolved without any use of force.
That stat is similar to 2020, where out of 36,667 calls for service, only 196 required force. That works out to 99.47 per cent of calls where force wasn’t applied by officers.
The LPS defines force as anything more than cooperative handcuffing or simple escort techniques.
The report found in instances where force was required last year, 209 subjects were not injured, 24 sustained minor injuries that didn’t require treatment and 13 individuals received out-patient treatment for injuries.
LPS training unit Sgt. Rick Semenuik believes de-escalation training, adopted by the service in 2019, is why the majority of calls are resolved peacefully.
“One of the big things that came out of that is distance plus cover equals time,” Semenuik said.
“When you have to deal with somebody who’s going through crisis, you have a better chance of de-escalating that (situation) and solving it before force is required.”
According to the report, only five per cent of individuals in cases where force was required were deemed to be in a normal mental state.
Semenuik says when people are in crisis, creating calm in that environment becomes even more important.
“Giving members that knowledge, just take your time, give them time to settle down and you’ll be able to de-escalate a lot,” Semenuik said.
At this time, LPS isn’t planning any changes to its training and will continue teaching de-escalation moving forward.
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