The Police use of force statistics for the year ending 31 March 2023 published today (30 November) show the handcuffing remains the most favoured tactic amongst officers in England and Wales.
In the year ending 31 March 2023, there were 659,372 recorded incidents in which a police officer used force on an individual in England and Wales. This is 51,208 (*8%) more on the previous year, when there were 608,164 recorded incidents.
Of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, 30 (70%) reported an increase in use of force incidents compared with the year ending 31 March 2022. Feedback from police forces and analysis of their force level data shows that these increases are likely due in part to the continued improvement in the recording of the most common use of force tactics.
By tactic
There were 958,356 use of force tactics reported within the 659,372 use of force incidents, with most incidents involving 1 or 2 tactics. This was an increase in tactics of 7% (+64,466) compared with the previous year.
This was driven by increases in the most common tactics used (restraint +32,951, unarmed skills +16,822 and other tactics +15,261), in part a symptom of improved record-keeping of those tactics by police forces. Restraint tactics (eg handcuffing, limb or body restraints, ground restraint, etc) remain the most common type of force used, making up 63% of all tactics employed (602,271) and 78% of all recorded use of force incidents (514,315), similar levels to the previous year. The majority of restraint tactics involved handcuffing (77% of restraint tactics), which in turn accounted for roughly half (49%) of all use of force tactics, similar to previous years. 65% of handcuffing was compliant (where the individual does not resist and follows requests) and 34% was non-compliant (compliancy was not stated for 1% of handcuffing tactics).
The increase in firearms tactics was also in line with the overall increase in all use of force tactics recorded. Firearms tactics increased from 5,435 in the year ending 31 March 2022 to 5,890 in the year ending 31 March 2023 (+455, +8%).
There were small decreases in the number of times less lethal weapons (-2%) and tactics involving other equipment (-1%) compared with the year ending 31 March 2022, suggesting that the numbers of incidents involving Taser™ use is reaching a plateau.
Number of times CEDs were used, England and Wales, year ending 31 December 2013 to year ending 31 March 2023
By demographic
80% of use of force incidents involved males, and half (51%) of all incidents involved people aged 18 to 34 years.
Population and use of force by age of person involved, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2023
Use of force incidents increased across all ethnic groups compared with the previous year.
Use of force incidents by ethnicity, years ending 31 March 2022 and 2023
Although the proportion of use of force incidents on Black people was very slightly lower compared with the previous year, the rate of use of force involved people from a Black ethnic group at a rate 3.4 times higher than those from a white ethnic group in police force areas in England and Wales (a differential of 3.3 when excluding the Metropolitan Police; 3.5 for the Met only).
In the year ending 31 March 2023, people from a Black ethnic group (13% of incidents) were involved in proportionally more incidents involving the police use of less lethal weapons (16%) and firearms (24%) and that people from a white ethnic group (73% of incidents) were involved in proportionally fewer incidents involving the police use of less lethal weapons (71%) and firearms (54%) compared with other tactics.
Incidents where a CED was deployed involved someone from a Black ethnic group at a rate 4.2 times higher than someone from a white ethnic group in police force areas in England and Wales (excluding the Metropolitan Police), and at a rate 4.4 times higher in the Metropolitan police force area. These rates were 4.1 and 4.7 respectively in the year ending 31 March 2022. CED discharge incidents (where the CED is fired, used in direct contact mode or used to deliver an angled drive-stun) involved someone from a Black ethnic group at a rate 3.9 times higher than someone from a white ethnic group in police force areas in England and Wales (excluding the Metropolitan Police), and in the Metropolitan police force area. These rates were 3.8 and 4.1 respectively in the year ending 31 March 2022.
Rate of CED use, by type of use and perceived ethnicity, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2023
People from an Asian ethnic group (7% of incidents) were involved in proportionally more incidents involving the use of firearms (13%) and proportionally fewer incidents involving the use of less lethal weapons (6%).
People with mental health conditions accounted for 17% of incidents (16% in the year ending 31 March 2022) and those with physical health conditions accounted for 1% of incidents (the same proportion as the year ending 31 March 2022). People with mental health conditions (including those with mental and physical health conditions) were also involved in proportionally more incidents involving the use of less lethal weapons (20%), but fewer involving the use of firearms (10%).
Reasons for use of force
The most common reason an officer used force was to protect themselves (453,862 incidents, 69%); a similar proportion to the year ending 31 March 2022 (70%).
The most reported reasons for using force were:
- for the reporting officer’s own protection (453,862 incidents, 69%)
- the protection of other officers (385,894 incidents, 59%)
- to assist in making an arrest (344,394 incidents, 52%)
Top 5 reasons for using force, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2023
The most commonly reported factor that impacted on the incident (impact factor) was the person being under the influence of alcohol (244,053 incidents, 37%); a similar proportion to the year ending 31 March 2022 (39%). The next most commonly reported impact factors were the size, gender or build of the person involved (195,539 incidents, 30%), and the individual being under the influence of drugs (189,516 incidents, 29%). Unsurprisingly, the majority of use of force incidents recorded ended in arrest (470,416 incidents, 71%).
Limitations
It is important to note that this dataset does not cover all use of force incidents. For example, it excludes incidents where force was used in designated public order events (where officers may use force over a period of time against a person not subsequently apprehended). It also cannot tell us how many people had force used on them, and injuries and outcomes cannot be linked to individual tactics.