Hamilton police use-of-force incidents lowest in 16 years
Hamilton police officers used force 172 times in 2016, significantly below the service's 16-year average of 250 per year.
It was the lowest year for use-of-force incidents since 2001, according to a report presented to Hamilton police's oversight board on Friday.
In 98 other incidents, police used their conductive energy weapons (CEW), known better as Tasers, in "display" mode only.
The highest profile use-of-force incident was last September, when police shot and killed Tony Divers on James St. S. That incident is under investigation by the Special Investigations Unit, the province's independent police watchdog.
Fifteen of the 172 use-of-force incidents were euthanizing animals.
More than half of the time, in 93 incidents, police used force with a person who had a weapon, most commonly a knife or a gun.
In 2016, officers pressed the trigger on the CEWs 38 times, slightly lower than the nine-year average.
Even just having the CEW in the officer's belt can be effective, Sgt. Scott Galbraith said.
"Quite often that's the best de-escalation tool that we have," Galbraith said.
In 27 of the incidents, a member of the public, or a police officer, or both were injured.