The Windsor Police Service has recorded a decrease in the number of use-of-force reports involving its officers, a trend that is continuing so far in 2025.
Between 2023 and 2024, there was a 28.5 per cent decrease in use of force incidents.
Windsor police recorded 214 use-of-force incidents in 2023, 117 in 2024, and 117 have been recorded so far in 2025.
There has also been a 66.7 per cent drop in injuries to suspects between 2022 and 2024, along with a 66.7 per cent decrease in injuries to officers between 2022 and 2024.
Windsor Police Deputy Chief Jason Crowley says it's really positive numbers and it's good to see that trend line go down.
Crowley says he believes a few things are playing a factor.
"Certainly the training, the specialized teams. When we send our subject matter experts to these calls, they're able to deal with these kinds of things better than the regular patrol officers. I think that's where we're seeing our successes," he says.
In recent years, police have launched several specialized teams that pairs officers with nurses, social workers and mental health and crisis experts to help respond to calls in the community.
Crowley says use of force can cover several things.
"Use of force can be anything from presence in a uniform to the highest use of force, using a firearm," he says. "There's a very wide range of what we're talking about. Could be empty-hand techniques, or it could be some of the weapons we're trained in, such as a baton, pepper spray, Taser, or CEW."
In 2022, 12 police officers were injured, while 33 subjects were also injured in use of force incidents.
The figure dropped to 6 officer injuries and 11 subject injuries in 2023, with 4 officer injuries and 11 subject injuries reported in 2024.