Police use of force rises 13% in England, Wales

LONDON

Nearly 750,000 use of force incidents were recorded in England and Wales in the year ending March 2024, according to data released Thursday.

There were 747,396 reports, including British Transport Police (BTP) from April 2023 to March 2024 year, representing a 13% increase compared to the previous period, said the Home Office, that provided details of one officer’s use of force on one person, and can involve multiple use of force tactics.

Restraint tactics for example -- handcuffing, limb or body restraints, ground restraint -- were the most common force used with 574,687 reports at 77%.

It said that "79% of use of force reports involved men, and almost half (48%) of all use of force reports involved people aged 18 to 34 years.”

Figures also showed that the rate of use of force was 3.2 times higher against Black ethnic groups compared to White ethnic groups in England and Wales, excluding the Metropolitan Police, or London police force.

The figure was 3.3 in the year ending March 31, 2023.

The Home Office said the most common reason an officer used force was to protect themselves with 501,621 reports, similar to the previous year.

"The most commonly reported factor that impacted on the incident where force was used (impact factor) was the person being under the influence of alcohol (283,518 use of force reports, 38%)."

Overall, of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, excluding BTP, 36 (84%) submitted a higher number of the use of force reports compared with the year ending March 31, 2023.