Police use of force statistics
Official statistics on police use of force incidents in England and Wales. Data is collected from all 43 Home Office funded police forces.
Official statistics on police use of force incidents in England and Wales. Data is collected from all 43 Home Office funded police forces.
These statistics cover incidents where police officers have used force and include:
- tactics used
- reasons for using force
- outcomes
- injuries (to the officers and or the person involved)
- personal characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity and health conditions, as perceived by the reporting officer)
From April 2017, all police forces in the UK have been required to record this data. The purpose of the use of force data collection is to provide transparency and accountability in this area by providing information on the different types of force used and other related data.
Statistics on police use of conducted energy devices (CED), for example 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 at Police use of TASER ® X26 conducted energy devices statistics.
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. The new figures for CED use from 2017 to 2018 onwards are not comparable with previous figures, due to the new recording methods. More information is available in the ‘User guide to Police use of force statistics, England and Wales’.
Documents
Guidance
Updates to this page
Last updated 30 November 2023 + show all updates
-
Added 'Police use of force statistics, April 2022 to March 2023' and updated 'User guide to Police use of force statistics, England and Wales'.
-
Added 'Police use of force statistics, England and Wales: April 2021 to March 2022'. Added 'User guide to Police use of force statistics, England and Wales'.
-
Added 'Police use of force statistics, England and Wales: April 2020 to March 2021'. Minor updates to collection page text for clarification.
-
Added 'Police use of force statistics, England and Wales: April 2019 to March 2020'.
-
Added 'Police use of force statistics, England and Wales: April 2018 to March 2019'.
-
First published.