2022 UOF Report Infographic

Hamilton Police have released the annual Use of Force (UOF) statistics for 2022. Canada’s Criminal Code grants police officers authority on reasonable grounds to use as much force as necessary to carry out their duties.

Last year, there were 387 reported UOF incidents. This is a seven per cent increase in UOF over 2021. The UOF incident remains low with less than one per cent of incidents involving UOF. Last year, Hamilton Police had 270,500 public contacts.

“Officers are authorized to use a range of force options in response to an event or incident in order to protect life, preserve the peace, prevent crimes, maintain order and apprehend suspects. Hamilton Police are trained to only use the minimum force necessary,” says Chief Frank Bergen.

In 2022, officers discharged a firearm 26 times, which is more than the 19 that took place in 2021. All but three discharges were for euthanizing injured animals.

Uniform patrol is most likely to encounter incidents requiring an application of force, particularly those with less than five years of service.  

Hamilton Police saw an increase in the number of times a handgun was drawn over the previous year. Increases in handgun drawn and firearm pointed are related to rises in incidents where subjects carried weapons.

In 2020, the Ministry of the Solicitor General required police services to track the race of individuals involved in UOF encounters with police. The data shows there is an over representation of Black individuals compared to the Hamilton population by a factor of 3.14 times over the general population.

“What we don’t know right now is what internal and external factors are driving these disparities. Understanding the complexities of these numbers will take a multi-faceted approach involving community leaders, academics, data experts and government institutions. We’re committed to being at the table to understand and address these interactions,” said Bergen.

Use of Force is an annual reporting requirement by the Ministry of the Solicitor General. When force is used, an officer is required to fill out a form based on the incident. Hamilton Police are also releasing row level Use of Force incident data after requests from the community for more information regarding the interactions. This data includes the division where the interaction occurred, the occurrence type, how the call originated and what police unit was involved in the interaction.

Hamilton Police are working on adopting a standardized provincial strategy on race and identity data collection to meet the goal outlined in the 2017 Anti-Racism Act. We recognize enhancing our race-based data collection is important in order to identify patterns, provide context to why disparities exist and address how existing programs or policies may be contributing factors.

Download the  full Use of Force report here.