Guidance

User guide to Police use of force statistics, England and Wales

Updated 30 November 2023

Applies to England and Wales

1. Introduction

This user guide provides further information on the Police use of force statistics publication.

Official statistics

Police use of force statistics are classified as Official Statistics.

From the year ending March 2018 to the year ending March 2020, police use of force statistics were labelled as Experimental Statistics (now referred to as ‘Official Statistics in development’). The label was removed from the year ending 31 March 2021 statistics to show that:

• the development phase has ended
• the methods for recording, collecting and analysing the data are well established
• feedback shows that the statistics are useful and reliable
• the quality limitations are known, and the effects of these are understood

The data quality section provides more detail on current limitations and data quality issues.

2. Data collection and preparation

2.1 Purpose of the collection

In 2014, the then Home Secretary asked former Chief Constable David Shaw (Chief Constable for West Mercia until July 2016) to lead a review into what data should be recorded and published on the police’s use of force following a government commitment to improve transparency and accountability in this area.

The use of force review recommended that a range of data should be recorded every time the police use tactics which are considered a use of force. Since April 2017, all police forces in the UK have been required to record this data.

Use of force data is collected to provide the public with information on the different types of force used by the police and other data related to it. The data is also used by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and College of Policing to enhance tactics, training, and equipment and improve the safety of officers and those that they come into contact with.

Police forces in England and Wales collect data on the use of force and submit it to the Home Office through the Annual Data Requirement (ADR). The ADR is a list of all requests for data made to police forces in England and Wales under the Home Secretary’s statutory powers.

By collecting the data through the ADR, there is more consistent reporting within and between police forces, and the importance of the data is visible to ministers and the public.

2.2 Data coverage

Data is collected, under the terms of the ADR, from the 43 Home Office police forces in England and Wales. It was collected for the first time in 2018, covering the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018.

One use of force incident is defined as one officer’s use of force on one person.

One incident could include multiple tactics, reasons for using force, impact factors, locations and outcomes.

The number of incidents reported in the publication is the number of use of force reports that were completed by police officers, not the number of unique events or people involved in incidents. For example, 2 police officers may submit separate reports about using force on the same person.

A use of force is where a police officer uses any of the following force tactics on a single individual:

Restraint tactics

• handcuffing (compliant or non-compliant)
• limb and or body restraints
• ground restraint

Unarmed skills

• escorting individuals
• distraction strikes with hands and feet
• pressure point and joint locks

Use of other equipment

• baton (including where it was drawn but not used)
• irritant spray (including where it was drawn but not used)
• spit and bite guard
• shield (for example, individual struck or pushed with a shield)

Less lethal weapons

• Conducted Energy Device (CED, for example Taser ®), including where it was discharged (direct contact mode, fired, angled drive-stun) or used without being discharged (drawn, aimed, red-dot, arced)
• Attenuating Energy Projectile (AEP) (including whether it was drawn but not used, or used)

Firearms

• this refers to the use of conventional firearms, including where the firearm was aimed or fired

Other

• use of dogs (including where a dog was deployed but did not come into contact with (for example, bite) the individual)
• other and or improvised

In the police use of force statistics, the tactics used in an incident are only counted once, even if they were reported multiple times within the same incident. If multiple tactics are used by one officer on one person within the same incident, the report would count as one incident.

Officers must complete a ‘use of force report’ each time they use force tactics on an individual. The use of force report also allows for other information to be recorded. As such, the statistics in the publication cover various aspects of use of force incidents:

• the type of force (tactic) used
• the reason for using force, and other factors that impacted on the incident
• details of the person’s age, gender, ethnicity, health condition and outcome
• injury information for both officers and the person involved, including injury level
• incident details such as location type

The publication does not cover force used in designated public order events, where officers may use force over a period of time against people not subsequently apprehended. In these situations, it is not feasible for officers to provide the same level of detail as for individual use of force incidents.

Police forces may collect additional information for their own analysis, such as more detail or including incidents at designated public order events. For more information on individual police forces’ use of force data, see the related statistics and reports section of this user guide.

2.3 Quality assurance

These statistics are compiled by Home Office statisticians who have worked closely with the NPCC and police forces to design and implement quality assurance checks. There is ongoing communication with police forces during the data collection and confirmation exercises, and engagement via the NPCC.

Quality assurance checks follow the QAAD guidance (Quality Assurance of Administrative Data) and include:

• ensuring the data provided is complete
• querying missing or contradictory data (for example, where someone has been reported as ‘not injured’, but descriptions of the person’s injury have subsequently been provided), and working with police forces to correct the data where needed
• querying substantial changes in figures over time

The recording of police use of force incidents is the responsibility of each police force. As such, individual police forces may subject their use of force data to various quality checks prior to submitting the data to the Home Office.

3. Data quality

From the year ending 31 March 2021, police use of force statistics have been classified as Official Statistics after a development period of 3 years. Statisticians in the Home Office continue to work with police forces and the NPCC to make continuous improvements to the quality of the data (see Improvements to data quality for more information).

Although national guidance on the recording of police use of force has been developed by the NPCC and made available to all police forces, it is the responsibility of individual police forces to provide training and guidance for officers on the reporting of use of force. As such, forces use their own recording systems and conduct their own quality assurance processes, so the quality of data may differ across the national dataset. Use of force reporting remains reliant, to an extent, on the judgement and interpretation of the individual reporting officer.

3.1 Data quality - recording practices

Quality assurance checks completed by Home Office statisticians have identified known issues with the data, for example missing details for an incident or not recording tactic type in the required way. Home Office statisticians continue to work with forces to improve their level of compliance with the ADR.

Police forces choose which system they use to record use of force data; there is no central system or software. Recording systems can vary in the following ways:

• the exact wording of questions about the incident
• how answers can be entered (such as free text responses, and selecting from drop-down menus or pick lists)
• the level of data validation; for example, some systems may allow an officer to enter contradictory or incorrect information when recording their use of force, or some questions may not be mandatory or may not direct an officer to input details where a response should be mandatory

3.2 Data quality - how a use of force incident is defined

Police officers must record the details of any incident where they deployed force tactics through a use of force report. Where a situation involved more than one individual or officer using force, each officer who used force must complete one use of force report, per individual, detailing their own use of force.

One use of force incident refers to one officer’s use of force involving one person. A report could include multiple tactics, reasons for using force, impact factors, locations, and outcomes, although it should only relate to one officer and one person. The ‘number of incidents’ reported in the publication is therefore equal to the number of use of force reports that were completed by police officers, not the number of unique events or people involved in incidents.

In a situation where 3 police officers restrain an individual on the ground, and one of those officers then handcuffs the individual, there would be 3 separate use of force reports submitted (one by each officer). These reports would be counted in the publication as 3 ‘incidents’. All 3 reports would include the details of the incident (location, for example) and the persons’ details. The reports would also include the tactics the reporting officer used (for example, 2 reports would list ground restraint only, and one report would list both ground restraint and handcuffing). Because the recording is reliant on the judgement and interpretation of the officer to some extent, some details might be recorded differently by different officers at the same incident due to perception (for example, one may record the individual as aged 18 to 34, another may record them as aged 35 to 49) or because they were present at the incident for different amounts of time (for example, an officer may escort the person to hospital after arresting them, and so record the outcome as arrested and hospitalised; another officer may have not been present when the person was hospitalised and so record the outcome as arrested only).

As a report could include multiple tactics, reasons for using force, impact factors, locations, and outcomes, it is not possible to determine from such reports, for example, the location in which each tactic was used (where multiple tactics and locations are reported), or which tactic (or combination thereof) may have caused a person’s injuries. Data is collected in this way to make sure the reporting process is not excessively bureaucratic or burdensome to police forces - for example by requiring the completion of multiple use of force reports.

Some use of force situations will be more complicated than others, and cover different amounts of time. It is the reporting officer’s decision whether they report the events as one incident or multiple.

3.3 Data quality - CED

In the year ending 31 March 2023, all 43 police forces collected and submitted data on CED use to the Home Office for the full 12-month reporting period. In previous years, some police forces submitted separate datasets detailing their CED use. As such, some data presented in the publication on the number of uses of CED was not linked to other incident information (for example, person details).

3.4 Data quality - Reasons, outcomes, impact factors

Incidents can involve multiple tactics, reasons for using force, impact factors and outcomes, and as such should not be interpreted as being directly linked or causal. For instance, in an incident where restraint tactics were used and the outcome ‘hospitalisation’ was recorded, it does not mean that hospitalisation was caused by the use of restraint tactics, as other tactics may have been recorded in that incident which caused or contributed to the outcome. This also applies to reasons for using force and impact factors. See the following example:

Example of recording multiple uses of force and reasons for using force

In an incident where ‘spit and bite guard’ is a tactic used, and ‘prevent escape’ is a reason for using force, this does not mean the officer used a spit or bite guard to prevent the person from escaping, as other tactics and or reasons may have been reported also.

Example: An officer uses handcuffs on a non-compliant person, to prevent them from escaping. The person continues to behave aggressively and starts spitting at the officer. The officer places a spit and bite guard on the person to protect themselves from any further spitting or biting.

The officer would complete a use of force report, listing ‘non-compliant handcuffing’ and ‘spit and bite guard’ as tactics, and ‘prevent escape’ and ‘protect self’ as the reasons for using force.

‘Other’ outcomes can include instances where a person is cautioned, charged or restrained until they no longer pose a threat before being released, searched or de-arrested following further information, or transported home or into medical care.

3.5 Data quality - injuries

Injuries to the person, or the outcome ‘hospitalisation’ may be reported even when these outcomes were not caused by the officers’ use of force. This could be because the cause or level of the injury, or cause of the outcome is unclear. For example, in incidents where multiple officers were involved, or injuries were caused by other parties. This may account for many instances in the data where the outcome ‘hospitalisation’ is recorded but the injury section of the report does not show the person sustaining any injuries from the officers’ use of force.

Injury information may be contradictory because accurately determining the severity of an injury may be difficult for reasons such as the severity being affected by a pre-existing injury or medical issue, or it being unclear from a visual and or verbal assessment as to the severity of an injury.

Data on staff injuries include contradictory information; for example, the officer did not report sustaining an injury but injury details were provided (such as, the officer’s injury was recorded as ‘minor’).

The number of injury incidents do not necessarily equate to the number of individual people. This may also apply to incidents where officers reported the outcome as ‘hospitalised’ because multiple officers might report the same hospitalisation.

Under the Police Reform Act 2002, police forces in England and Wales have a statutory duty to refer all incidents involving a death or serious injury to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for consideration. The IOPC will determine whether it is necessary to investigate and who should carry out the investigation. Some matters are investigated by police forces and some are investigated by the IOPC. The IOPC National Statistics report on deaths during or following police contact provides more comprehensive information.

3.6 Data quality - location

A use of force incident may involve multiple locations. For example, an incident could begin in a house, but finish on the street outside if the person attempted to escape. Or, where custody block is given as a location, it does not necessarily follow that all tactics used in the incident were used within the custody block; they may have been used before the person was placed in custody.

In instances where an officer uses force on the same individual in multiple locations, and most likely across an extended period of time, the officer may view parts of the event as separate incidents and record the details in separate reports which, in turn, would count as multiple incidents in these statistics.

3.7 Data quality - physical and mental health conditions

Use of force recording guidance provided by the NPCC states that mental and physical health conditions include, but are not limited to:

• sensory impairments
• fluctuating or recurring impairments (for example, epilepsy)
• developmental impairments (for example, autistic spectrum disorders, or dyspraxia)
• learning disabilities
• mental health conditions
• mental illness

3.8 Uses of the statistics

These statistics can be used to provide a national picture of police use of force in England and Wales. The data provides information on the personal characteristics of the person involved, the type of force used, the reason police used force and other information about the incident.

The data currently cannot be used for the following purposes:

• to find out the number of unique events in which force was used - a single situation involving one officer and 2 people would result in 2 use of force reports being submitted (by the same officer), which means the incident would appear twice in the dataset
• to find out the number of unique individuals upon which force was used - a single incident involving one person and 2 officers, both of whom use force, would result in 2 use of force reports being submitted (one per officer), which means the person would appear twice in the dataset
• to find details on a specific person and or event - it is possible that multiple officers reporting the details of the same individual may report different person details, due to their differing perceptions or judgement
• to compare CED use from April 2017 onwards to data on CED use recorded prior to April 2017 - the transition of recording CED use from one system to another (like a wider use of force recording system) means that the data is not completely comparable
• to work out direct links between tactics and the reasons, locations, outcomes and or injures resulting from the use of that tactic; one use of force report can include multiple responses for each of these questions

3.9 Improvements to data quality

The Experimental Statistics label on police use of force statistics was removed in the year ending 31 March 2021 to indicate that the development stage of the data collection has ended.

Statisticians in the Home Office continue to work with individual police forces and the NPCC to improve the quality of the statistics. This includes, for example, working with individual police forces to address areas of their data collection to correct errors or missing data. Home Office statisticians also support the NPCC in exercises such as reviewing and updating the national guidance on the police use of force data collection. This is to make sure information is being recorded in a uniform manner across and within police forces.

4. Methodology

4.1 Rounding

Data in ‘Police use of force statistics, England and Wales’ is provided unrounded, to promote transparency and allows users to examine the data in detail. However, please note that the figures are subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system.

Percentages greater than 1% are presented to the nearest percent. All percentages less than 1% are rounded to the nearest significant figure, for example 0.43% would be presented as 0.4%.

Where data is rounded, it may not sum to the totals shown, or, in the case of percentages, to 100%, because it has been rounded independently.

4.2 Revisions

It is standard practice across all Home Office statistical publications to incorporate revisions to previous years’ data in the latest publication. Corrections and revisions follow the Home Office statement of compliance with the code of practice for statistics - revisions and corrections policy.

5. Tactics glossary

This section lists all the tactics that are collected in ‘Police use of force statistics, England and Wales’. To ensure all use of force is captured, it includes a category of ‘Other or improvised’.

Further information relating to the tactics and equipment can be found through the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice website

Attenuating energy projectile (AEP)

An AEP is a soft nosed impact projectile fired from a single shot launcher. AEP is a form of less lethal weapon only available for use by specially trained officers, to give them (including those armed with conventional firearms) an additional means of dealing with threats of serious violence. It delivers an impact that is not intended to cause serious or life-threatening injury, but is of sufficient force to dissuade or prevent a violent or potentially violent person from their intended course of action, thereby reducing the threat. Police officers must record both when an AEP is drawn (even if not subsequently used), and when used.

Baton

A baton is a static or expandable stick. Batons can be used by appropriately trained officers to protect themselves or others, to demonstrate that force is about to be used (or may be used), and to facilitate dispersal and or arrest. Frontline officers routinely carry a baton, and must record both when a baton is drawn (even if not subsequently used), and when used.

Conducted energy device (CED)

A CED (for example a TASER ® X26, TASER ® X2, TASER ® 7) is a less lethal weapon system authorised for use by specially trained officers only. This is one of a number of tactical options available when dealing with an incident with the potential for conflict. When fired, it is designed to temporarily incapacitate a person through the delivery of an electrical current which temporarily interferes with the body’s neuromuscular system.

The different possible uses of CEDs are as follows:

Non-discharge

• drawn - drawing of the device in circumstances where any person could reasonably perceive the action to be a use of force
• aimed - deliberate aiming of the device at a targeted person
• red-dot - the device is deliberately aimed and then partially activated so that a red laser dot is placed onto the person (the device is not discharged)
• arced - sparking of the device without aiming or firing it

Discharge

• direct contact mode - the device is held against the person’s body and the trigger is pulled with no probes being fired; contact with the person completes the electrical circuit which causes pain but does not deliver an incapacitating effect
• fired - the device is fired with a live cartridge installed; when the trigger is pulled, the probes are fired towards the person with the intention of completing an electrical circuit and delivering an incapacitating effect
• angled drive-stun - the officer fires the device with a live cartridge installed; if one of the probes misses the person, or if the probes land too close together, the officer then holds the device against the person’s body in a different area to the probe(s), in order to complete the electrical circuit and deliver an incapacitating effect

These statistics present the ‘highest’ use of CED from each incident. For example, if a CED is drawn, aimed, red-dotted, and then fired, this use will appear under ‘Fired’ only.

The approved CEDs for use by officers in England and Wales over the year ending 31 March 2023 data collection period were the TASER ® X26, TASER ® X2 and TASER ® 7, manufactured by Axon Enterprise.

Dog deployment

Police officers may use specially trained dogs in certain situations, for example, to pursue a suspect who is attempting to evade officers. Police officers must record when a dog is deployed, as well as if the dog comes into physical contact with (for example bites) an individual.

Firearms

The use of firearms by specially trained armed officers can sometimes be the most appropriate way of dealing with a violent situation. An officer carrying a firearm, or the presence of an armed officer, does not in itself constitute a use of force. The ‘use’ of a firearm does not necessarily mean the firearm was discharged (fired); the act of an officer drawing or deliberately pointing the firearm at another person may de-escalate a situation, meaning it is not necessary for the officer to fire the weapon. From the year ending 31 March 2021 police forces began to provide data on whether the firearm was aimed or fired.

Ground restraint

This refers to when a police officer restrains someone on the ground. This does not include other tactics used to restrain individuals (not on the ground), which should be recorded in these statistics under ‘unarmed skills’ if no specific restraint equipment was used. If an officer restrained an individual on the ground and then used specific limb and or body restraint equipment, then ‘limb and or body restraints’ would also be reported as a tactic for that incident.

Handcuffing (compliant and non-compliant)

Frontline officers routinely carry handcuffs. Officers must record whether the handcuffing of an individual was compliant (such as, the individual does not resist and follows requests) or non-compliant.

Irritant spray

Irritant spray can be drawn and or used (sprayed) during an incident. Frontline police officers routinely carry an irritant spray and must record both when an irritant spray is drawn (even if not subsequently used), and when used.

Limb and or body restraints

This refers to the use of specialist equipment to reduce the movement of arms and legs. This tactic does not cover when a police officer restrains someone without using equipment (which may be recorded in these statistics as ‘unarmed skills’ or ‘ground restraint’, depending on how the individual was restrained).

Other and or improvised

When an officer used tactics which are not otherwise listed, they record the tactic as ‘Other and or improvised’. These tactics may include the use of horses or vehicles, for example.

Shield

A shield may be used by an officer to protect themselves and others, and potentially to strike an individual.

Spit and bite guard

A spit and bite guard may be used by an officer to provide protection from spitting and reduce the worst effects of biting, as well as reducing the need for the officer to resort to other, potentially more injurious, forms of physical restraint.

Unarmed skills

This tactic refers to physical contact, which can include: pushing; pulling; the use of pressure points; and knee, foot or hand strikes. This does not include police officers restraining someone (which is recorded as ‘Ground restraint’ or ‘Limb and or body restraints’).

6. Related statistics and reports

Forthcoming publications of ‘Police use of force statistics, England and Wales’ will be pre-announced on the Research and statistics page.

6.1 Police force publications

Police forces are encouraged to publish their own use of force data on their police force websites. These local publications may include information beyond what is included in the ADR and may not be comparable between all forces. Data quality processes used to produce the data published in the police use of force publication may mean that there are some differences between locally published police force data and the Home Office statistical publication.

6.2 International comparisons

New Zealand police publish tactical options research reports.

The United States of America do not have a national mandatory recording system, but select reports and reviews are available through the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Canada have federal and provincial policing regulations which require reporting on use of force incidents, but reporting is not consistent across the country. Further information can be found in their discussion of the collection and analysis of data on the use of force research report.

6.3 Data for police use of CED prior to year ending 31 March 2018

Statistics on police use of CED (that is, TASER ®) were previously collected on a calendar year basis by the Home Office until 2016 (inclusive). These statistics, for the years 2009 to 2016, can be found in the Police use of TASER ® series. These statistics do not include the use of TASER ® X2 as the X2 model was not used in operational policing in England and Wales until after April 2017.

From April 2017, CED data has been collected on a financial year basis (April to March), for inclusion in the police use of force statistical collection. To bridge the gap between the 2016 collection and the 2017 to 2018 collection, the Home Office collected police use of CED data for January to March 2017, and included it in table 14 for ‘Police use of force statistics, England and Wales, April 2017 to March 2018’. Revisions to the 2016 CED data can be found in table 15 for ‘Police use of force statistics, England and Wales, April 2017 to March 2018’.

Comparisons between historical CED figures to the data on police use of CED from April 2017 onwards is possible but may not represent full CED use.

6.4 Further statistics on police use of firearms

The Home Office separately publishes annual figures for each police force in England and Wales on firearms use, including:

• the number of firearms operations
• the number of armed officers
• the number of incidents where police firearms were intentionally discharged at person(s); this is the preferred source of data on the police use of firearms

Official Statistics on police use of firearms can be found on GOV.UK.

6.5 Statistics on the number of police officers assaulted

The police use of force statistics include figures on officer assaults, which includes whether the officer was injured as a result of an assault by the person involved in the use of force incident.

Other statistics on police officer assaults are available as part of the police recorded crime series, which are published quarterly in Crime in England and Wales, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). These include assaults on officers (both with and without injury) that are recorded as crimes. As these statistics include assaults where there was no use of force by the police, they are not comparable with the statistics in the use of force publication.

6.6 HMICFRS PEEL: Police legitimacy report

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) publishes legitimacy reports on their inspections of police forces, focusing on whether forces treat people with fairness and respect, and ensure their workforces act ethically and lawfully. The PEEL legitimacy report was published in December 2017 and contains a national overview on police use of force. The latest annual assessment of policing in England and Wales, State of Policing, was published in 2023. Force level PEEL assessments have been published for the 2021 to 2022 PEEL cycle and the 2023 to 2025 PEEL cycle started in 2023.

7. Feedback and enquiries

We are keen to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you have any comments or feedback relating to accessibility, or more generally, please contact us at: PolicingStatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk.