Police using Tasers more, striking people less

Hamilton police are using Tasers more and other types of force much less when making arrests, according to the service's just-released year-end use-of-force report.

Hamilton police officers used conducted energy weapons (commonly known by the brand name Taser) 64 times in 2014, which is an increase of 56 per cent from the year before.

That rise makes sense though, considering that in September of last year, police chief Glenn De Caire announced a "service-wide expansion" of conducted energy weapons.

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That means more front line officers than ever before now carry the mostly non-lethal combat option, which was once only used by supervisors and members of special tactical teams. Their increased availability came after high profile shootings of citizens by police in Hamilton and Toronto, and pressure from citizens who argued officers needed another choice other than firing their weapons to subdue people.

According to the report, over 700 local officers are now trained to use Tasers. This marks the first time the public has gotten an in depth look at how the weapons are being used locally since the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services eased restrictions on who could use them back in 2013.

Hamilton police spokesperson Catherine Martin said the service would not comment on the report until it went before the Police Services Board on Thursday.

Though the use of force report says Tasers were used 64 times last year, 48 of those times were in "display mode" – in other words, an effort to subdue a person without physically shocking them. In essence, it's the less lethal equivalent of pointing a gun at a person and warning them.

According to the report, Tasers were most often used to "apprehend/control emotionally disturbed/mentally ill persons," at 24 times, compared to just seven times where a person were a person either had or was thought to have had a weapon.

Tasers were also used 20 times in "general arrests involving assaultive suspects," the report reads.

Here are some other use of force facts from 2014 from the report:

• There were 238 reported force incidents in 2014, which is lower than the 15-year average.
• Hamilton police officers fired their guns 47 times last year – and each time was to euthanize an animal.
• There is a decrease in both the use of "soft" and "hard" empty-handed force techniques used when subduing a person.
• Uniformed patrol officers were the most likely to use force, beating out members of vice and drugs and the emergency response unit.
• June was the month in which police used force the most last year.
• Wednesday is the day of the week where police use force the most. "There is no obvious explanation for this pattern," the report says.