Transparency data

Ministry of Defence Police use of force data: April to June 2020

Updated 12 September 2024

Main points summary

• 35 instances of use of force by Ministry of Defence Police Officers recorded during the period from 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2020

• The most common reason for use of force was to protect other officer – 18 instances

• The most commonly recorded impact factor was mental health - 18 instances

• The most commonly perceived ethnicity of individuals subject to use of force was White - 26 out of 35 instances

• The most common outcome was arrested - 31 out of 35 instances

Locations

• In most cases, use of force by MDP Officers took place on streets/highways – 16 recorded instances.

Table 1: Reasons for use of force

Use of Force reason[footnote 1]	Count
Protect other Officer	18
Effect Arrest	16
Protect Self	16
Effect Search	11
Prevent Escape	10
Prevent Offence	9
Protect Public	8
Prevent Harm	7
Protect Subject	5
Secure Evidence	5
Method of entry	0
Remove handcuffs	0
Other	0
Total	105

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^{[footnote 1]} Use of force can be used for several reasons in any given incident; there is a staged escalation process in the Police Service and therefore multiple reasons may be recorded for a single incident.

Table 2: Impact factors

Impact factors[footnote 1]	Count
Mental Health	18
Alcohol	13
Drugs	12
Prior Knowledge	8
Possession of a Weapon	7
Size/Gender/Build	2
Crowd	1
Other	1
Acute Behavioural Disorder	0
Total	62

Table 3: Primary conduct/behaviour of subject

Primary conduct/behaviour of subject[footnote 2]	Count
Compliant	18
Serious or aggravated resistance	7
Aggressive resistance	5
Verbal resistance/gestures	3
Active resistance	2
Passive resistance	0
No data available	0
Total	35

Definitions of the conduct/behaviour categories are provided at End Note.

Table 4: Tactics deployed^{[footnote 3]}

	Most common	Second most common	Third most common
First tactic:29 from 35 instances	Compliant Handcuffing - 20	Non-compliant handcuffing – 6	CED - 3
Second tactic:6 instances	Non-Compliant Handcuffing – 2Shield - 2	Ground Restraint – 1Compliant handcuffing - 1

Table 5: Conducted Energy Devices and Firearms deployed

Presentation of Conducted Energy Device (Taser)	Instances
CED drawn	1
CED aimed	0
CED arced	0
CED red dotted	2
Use of Conducted Energy Device (Taser)
CED stun	0
CED fired	0
Firearms
Firearm drawn	1
Firearm aimed	0
Firearm fired	0

Officer Injuries

• 1 officer was assaulted and received minor injuries

• Zero officers were spat at by the subject

• Zero officers incurred severe injuries

Subject details^{[footnote 4]}

Table 6: Gender

Perceived gender of the subject	Count
Male	30
Female	5
Transgender	0
Total	35

Table 7: Age

Perceived age of subject	Count
Under 11 years	0
11-17 years	2
18 - 34 years	18
35 - 49 years	8
50 - 64 years	2
65 years or over	1
Not recorded	4
Total	35

Table 8: Ethnicity

Perceived ethnicity of subject	Count
White (or White British)	26
Not Known	7
Black (or Black British)	2
Asian (or Asian British)	0
Other ethnic origin	0
Mixed race	0
Total	35

Disabilities

• All subjects were perceived to have no physical disabilities.

• In 12 out of 35 incidents, the subjects were perceived to have mental disabilities.

Injuries and medical assistance

• Zero subjects received minor injuries in an instance where use of force was recorded.

• Zero instances of medical assistance were required

• Zero instances of medical assistance were provided

Table 9: Outcomes

Outcome	Count
Arrested	31
Released/ No further action	3
Detained (Mental Health Act)	1
Hospitalised	0
Made Off/escaped	0
Fatality	0
Total	35

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Table 3: Primary conduct behaviour of subjects – Definitions

Compliant: No resistance to instructions

Verbal resistance: Verbal abuse or gestures made but does not offer any physical resistance e.g. verbally swearing, offensive finger gestures

Passive resistance: Resistance that is not physical in nature but is intended to stop an officer or the general public from leading their day-to-day activities for example, sitting in the road, refusing to move

Active resistance: A form of resistance or obstruction that is mildly physical in nature e.g. pushing, shoving

Aggressive resistance: A stage above active resistance where physical resistance is more pronounced but has no intention to injure an officer e.g. struggling against an officer

Serious/aggravated resistance: Use of violence against police with the intention to seriously injure or evade arrest for example, striking with a weapon, punching.

1. Impact factors are not always relevant to instances of use of force and fewer impact factors than incidents may therefore be recorded. Likewise, it is possible to have multiple impact factors for one incident. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Officers use the categories listed to best describe the primary conduct/behaviour of subjects. If the subject displays more than one conduct/behaviour, the officer will only record the most relevant or severe. Definitions of the conduct/behaviour categories are provided at End Note i. ↩

3. The breakdown of instances shown against each tactic is limited to ‘Most common’, ‘Second most common, and ‘Third most common’ so, in cases where more than three types of tactics have been used, the corresponding figures for each will not always equate to the total number of instances. In addition, the information provided in Table 4 and any corresponding bullet points does not include specific details on the deployment of Conducted Energy Devices (Tasers) or Firearms; where applicable, that information is provided at Table 5. ↩

4. Figures provided relate to the number of instances of use of force and do not always correspond to the specific number of individuals involved. For example, more than one instance of use of force could be attributed to the same person. ↩