Policing & Criminal Justice | Use of Force
Police officers use force with individuals when compliance does not occur after lawful orders are given in order to protect individuals on the scenes involving police response.
The Arlington Police Department( APD) reports five( 5) levels of force which ranges from guiding a person by touching them with an empty hand to discharging a firearm. With no national standard on collecting and reporting police use of force, many police departments report areas differently, making cross departmental comparisons challenging. APD has historically recorded and reported a broader range of force application than other agencies.
For example, many departments do not capture the drawing or pointing of a Conducted Energy Weapon( i. e. taser) or Firearm, while APD has historically reported those instances. Other police departments typically vary in the types of force used. One common national platform on reporting UOF is the FBI National Use of Force Data Collection. Since 2015, the FBI has been collecting national-level statistics on use of force. Participation is voluntary and APD supports this initiative through our regular reporting. Reportable incidents to the FBI must result in the death or serious bodily injury of a person, or the discharge of a firearm by a law enforcement officer at or in the direction of a person. This context must be kept in mind in reviewing the total incidents of use of force by APD. The number of incidents translates to 4.6 Use of Force Incidents for every 1,000 Calls for Service. This equates to less than 0.5 % of Calls for Service where force was used. This means that in about 99.5 % of all calls, no force was applied. Many of the original Unity Council recommendations focused on initiatives that would build trust between APD and Arlington’ s minority communities.
The department has engaged in several initiatives focused on this goal such as Cooking with Cops, a community cookout with Arlington Police and residents and Game Up 5.0, an opportunity for Arlington Police and youth to connect with each other.
When evaluating Use of Force( UOF) data from 2019 to 2022, the below findings were noted:
• The total number of UOF incidents decreased by 11.2 %( 1,131 to 1,004)
• The total number of UOF occurrences increased by 20 %( 3,044 to 3,655)
• The number of subjects against whom force was used decreased by 13.9 %( 1,636 to 1,408)
• A 26.2 % decrease from 2019 in Calls for Service, including dispatched, self-initiated activity and traffic stops.
Unity Council Report 2023 94