The Novum Times

Police commission attribute lower in field injuries to new training

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The Novum Times
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Edmonton Police Service says additional training the service is implementing has contributed to fewer injuries to subjects and officers in the field, according to its latest Control Tactics Report.

Staff Sgt. Joe Tassone with the Edmonton Police Service Training Branch, presented the latest Control Tactics Report from January to May of this year at Thursday’s Edmonton Police Commission meeting. He said mental health and drug-related occurrences are on an upward trend with 724 occurrences reported so far.

Tassone said while this category is on the rise, subject and officer injuries are being minimized and numbers are seeing a downward trend. He attributed it to the various training officers are receiving.

“We’re coming up with strategies internally,” said Tassone. “We’re training members with scenario-based training, to understand and appreciate what scenario (they’re in). We’ve inoculated specific situations that they could be in, on the street. We’re seeing that our whole training mandates are moving in the right direction.”

The force defines a control tactic occurrence as any occurrence where any force option, tactic or a weapon system would have been displayed or used. 

Edmonton Police Service collects data through its electronic Controls Tactics Report. Police will submit a report after the use of force resulted in injury, use of handcuffing, use of control tactics like stunning and direct mechanical techniques, sprays or impact weapons, a firearm was drawn, displayed or pointed, and other circumstances deemed fit by a supervisor.

A total of 191,520 occurrences were reported from January to May 2023. Of the occurrences, there were 1,381 community interactions that resulted in 2,613 control tactic reports submitted.

According to the report, occurrences involving force of a minor nature (category one) are trending upwards, but occurrences involving a higher level of force (category two) are trending downwards.

Tassone said one of the trends they are seeing within the report is the annual rise in the number of occurrences where police are coming into contact with members of the public.

“When we look at that the amount of interactions that we have with respect to where force options are produced or used, it is actually decreasing based on the number of occurrences of the public,” said Tassone. 

Tassone said the ratio of use-of-force events to interaction is less than one per cent

John McDougall, past chairman of the police commission, said violence against officers has gone up by 126 per cent, and arming officers with the right tools and techniques to de-escalate is necessary so police in the field are not “caught off guard” in dangerous situations.

Tassone added the force will continue to derive strategies based off the data, which will include additional training for officers to handle more complex situations.

“When we’re able to prescribe our front line with more options, then there’s more options with respect to control and minimize risk to our members, minimize and mitigate risk to the public, but also use less force and create the opportunities where force is not necessary,” said Tassone. 

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