South Simcoe police are living up to their namesake as a police service, not a police force.
Deputy Chief Sheryl Sutton presented the service’s annual report on use of force during the board’s monthly meeting in their newly renovated space in the InnPower building in Innisfil on Jan. 22.
A use-of-force report must be completed by any officer who draws or discharges a firearm in public or who uses physical force on a person resulting in an injury requiring medical attention.
Even as local calls for service hit a record high for the second year in a row, the total number of use-of-force reports continued to decrease to 24 in 2024, compared to 32 in 2023, which Sutton attributed to the caution and discipline of officers in the field.
“It shows that with the training our officers receive and the tactical communication that they’re having, that they’re able to get compliance without it escalating to a use of force,” she said.
The deputy chief also suspects having all front-line officers equipped with body-worn cameras helps discourage bad behaviour from members of the public and even encourages officers to be extra cognizant of their actions.
According to the report, the biggest change was in the use of conductive energy weapons (CEW), commonly known as stun guns, which local police used just four times in 2024, compared to 13 in 2023.
While probes on wires can be launched to stun people from a distance, the probes can also be energized without launching to stun people in close quarters, which is officially referred to as a drive strike. In 2024, police launched the probes and used drive strikes twice each.
Recently acclaimed board chair Chris Gariepy noted it’s “amazing how technology has changed,” allowing officers to move away from use of other less lethal options like the baton.
The deputy chief agreed and after the meeting explained batons can still be a valuable tool, but require officers to be within about an arm's reach of a suspect to use them effectively. The opposite is true for stun guns, which can be deployed from about 14 metres away.
“It gives you time and space,” Sutton said.
The reduced use of stun guns comes at the same time that use of firearms increased. According to the annual report, 2024 is the first in five consecutive years that the service had more individual firearms reports than less-lethal weapons reports.
To put that into perspective, Sutton explained local police are responding to more violent incidents that have already escalated before they arrive. As a result “officers need to do what they need to do.”
However, Sutton also explained police are only required to report use of stun guns if they’re actually used, not just drawn; whereas police must report whenever they draw a firearm while in the presence of the public, even if it’s never aimed at anyone.
“Generally, if there’s a situation where an officer brings out their firearm, another officer might have their CEW out as well,” she said.
As an example, the deputy chief pointed to the Aug. 15 incident when four officers responded to a 911 call on Shoreview Drive in Innisfil, and two 19-year-old men reportedly assaulted officers and attempted to hit them with a motor vehicle. Officers responded by firing their pistols and the driver was killed.
In addition to being a “terrible tragedy for the family,” and a “very unfortunate situation for everybody,” Sutton noted that one incident resulted in four separate use-of-force reports, meaning that even if those types of incidents remain less common, they can still tip the scales statistically.
While reports related to officers using firearms increased to 16 in 2024 from 13 in 2023, six of those in 2024 involved humane dispatch of animals, according to Sutton’s annual report. The remaining 10 reports of officers drawing firearms were because of “high-risk incidents” throughout the year where police had concerns for public safety.
While reports were down for the year overall, Sutton explained those numbers could be misleading as new rules implemented at the beginning of 2023 allowed for greater use of team use-of-force reports.
Prior to 2023, if multiple officers attending the same call used the same force item, officers were required to file individual reports, but under new standards, officers are now able to submit a team report.
Compared to 2023, the stats for 2024 include:
- Pistol drawn decreased to four from seven
- Pistol fired increased to six from three (two for humane discharge of animal)
- Shotgun drawn remained at one
- Shotgun fired remained at one (for humane discharge of animal)
- Rifle drawn remained at one
- Rifle fired increased to three from zero (all for humane dispatch of animal)
- Pepper spray use remained at zero
- Baton use remained at zero
- Use of bare hands remained at zero
- Stun gun drawn decreased to four from 13
- Stun gun arc use increased to two from one
- Stun gun probes fired decreased to two from four
- K9 use decreased to zero from one