A decrease in the number of use of force incidents involving Windsor police officers.
Out of 24,018 calls for service during the second quarter of 2022, 43 use of force reports were filed. The figure is down from the use of force incidents recorded in the first quarter of 2022 with 61 reported out of 25,679 calls for service.
In the second quarter of 2021, police received 32,281 calls for service with 49 use of force reports completed.
The categories covered under use of force includes empty hand techniques, the use of a controlled energy weapon, the use of pepper spray, or the number of times a handgun was drawn or pointed.
In the second quarter of 2022, 17 of the 43 use of force incidents were in Ward 3, which includes downtown Windsor. The second highest was Ward 4 with seven use of force incidents, followed by Ward 2 and Ward 10 with five each.
Acting Windsor Police Chief Jason Bellaire says Ward 3 houses a lot of the entertainment areas, a density of population and a high volume of calls for service.
"When you add that up, the interactions with individuals are increased and high-risk interactions," he says. "People are struggling in that area are where all the services are, they are struggling mental health issues, substance use issues, people experiencing homelessness. A lot of the services they access are in the downtown area."
Bellaire says the figure has gone up in recent years.
"It does seem to correspond with the escalation of violence in our city, so use of violence by others in our city will often be correlated to the use of force reporting by our police officers," he adds.
According to the second quarter report, covering April, May and June, a firearm was pointed 18 times, a firearm was drawn nine times, while a controlled energy weapon was deployed 13 times.