Regional police reported less use of force in second quarter of the year

New numbers from Waterloo Regional Police (WRPS) presented during Wednesday’s police board meeting show the number of use of force incidents went down in the second quarter of this year.

Between April 1 and June 30 of this year, WRPS officers recorded 95 use of force incidents with 148 reports filed. This showed a decrease from 107 incidents and 161 reports seen between January 1 and March 31. The most common type of incident where force was used was for weapon calls.

The same report showed the number of arrests increased from 3,782 to 3,835 and the number of occurrences between officers and the public increased from 84,369 to 89,288. The number of handguns drawn increased from 10 to 15 as well as handguns pointed from 11 to 27.

Regional Police Chief Mark Crowell said he was “struck” by the number of interactions that the service’s officers have on a daily basis.

“The level of weapons that our members are seeing within the public through the course of their regular duties is on the rise,” said Crowell. “I’m very pleased with the professionalism of our members.”

Perceived racial data showed that members of the white community were the most represented group in use of force reports with 97 (60 per cent).

The report said members of the Black and Middle Eastern communities were overrepresented; with Black individuals making up 29 per cent of reports but being only 4.7 per cent of the population and Middle Eastern individuals making up 6.2 per cent of reports and being three per cent of the population.

The report also found that seven people were injured, with six being reported as minor and one as serious.