The number of times Hamilton police officers used force in 2022 has gone up year-over-year, according to a new report from the service.
Data to be presented at the police board meeting Thursday will show a total of 387 use of force (UOF) incidents last year, an increase of seven per cent.
That includes three times when police firearms were discharged, not including the euthanizing of animals, 163 times when firearms were pointed and 158 uses of tasers.
Some 108 injuries, that involved either an officer, a member of the public or both, were reported in 2022.
Sixty-eight of those required medical attention from a paramedic, hospital or both.
The black population continues to be “over-represented” in the UOF data.
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Of the 483 people connected with the 387 UOF incidents, 83 were black.
Although making up only 5 per cent of Hamilton’s population, about 17 per cent involved in 2022’s UOF incidents were black.
“What we don’t know right now is what internal and external factors are driving these disparities,” chief Mark Saunders said in a release.
“Understanding the complexities of these numbers will take a multi-faceted approach involving community leaders, academics, data experts and government institutions.”
The vast majority of 382 unique UOF incidents took place in the L8L and L8H forward sortation areas (FSA) in the lower city.
However, not everyone subjected to force by police in 2022 was actually from Hamilton.
Only 67.1 per cent had an FSA that could be mapped.
Including the use of taser-like weapons, HPS says UOF incidents are averaging about 404 annually over the past five years.
There was a high of 431 incidents reported in 2020.
The five-year low was in 2021 with just 361 incidents.
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