Edmonton police use-of-force incidents up 12 per cent in first half of 2020
Police use-of-force incidents were up almost 12 per cent in the first six months of 2020 compared to the same time period last year, according to a report submitted Thursday to the Edmonton Police Commission.
Between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2020, officers reported 1,290 use-of-force incidents. There were 1,153 in the first six months of 2019 and 1,154 for the same time period in 2018.
Police Chief Dale McFee told the commission Thursday that he believes a number of factors accounted for the increase.
"There's a lot of clashing factors here right now," McFee said. "Certainly COVID-19, the downturn in the economy, George Floyd, meth usage."
For the first time in three years, the most common calls that resulted in a use of police force were mental health complaints, according to the semi-annual report.
"We're seeing a lot more intoxication related calls involving drugs and/or alcohol and mental-health issue type of calls than we've seen before," Insp. Trevor Hermanutz told the commission.
Police commissioner Laurie Hawn said that doesn't surprise him.
"You know, I think this is probably a COVID-effect," Hawn said. "People with issues perhaps becoming a little less rational because of all the other things going on in their lives."
The data collected by EPS also revealed that the 245 use-of-force incidents reported in April 2020 were most in any month in the last three years.
Incidents where a Taser was either threatened or used were also up.
Hermanutz said he's not alarmed by the increase and attributed it to a pooling system. At the end each shift, officers return Tasers to a caged area so the next shift can sign them out.
There was also a 21-per-cent increase in the number of times EPS officers reported pointing their firearms at a suspect or having their weapons in the low-ready position. The number of times pepper spray was used decreased by 47 per cent.
What the numbers don't show
What the report does not count are the number of use-of-force incidents that were serious enough to be sent to the provincial director of law enforcement for review.
The statistics do not provide any breakdown on the race of suspects involved.
McFee said that could change.
"That's a very hot topic right now with the federal government," McFee said. "We're actually trying to look at a project now with StatsCan to see if we can do that without putting officers or civilians in an uncomfortable situation."
McFee said EPS is also hoping to involve civilians as they consider future use-of-force training.
"We're looking at getting some members of the public — obviously from some of our diverse communities — to sit on a training advisory committee for us," McFee said. "To actually use them to look at our training from an outside perspective."
