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Additional information sought by Education & Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel in connection with the
Review of proposed introduction of TASERS for the States of Jersey Police.
Scrutiny Reference: 516/32
- The number and nature of violent confrontations in Jersey in the past 5 years and the way these incidents were resolved?
The SOJP record incidents using an electronic system referred to as i-log. All incidents requiring a police response are recorded. Once a log is opened, staff update this log through free text entries. Whilst there is a free text search facility available it is not possible to single out those incidents specifically related to violence or weapons or knives etc. without going through each record to determine the context. E.G. if a person is of interest an officer may enter that persons warning onto the log for reference purposes. If a person has a violent' warning marker, it may be entered onto the log and whilst the incident itself may not be violent a search would reveal that log.
Equally there may be reference to a firearm certificate holder, a warning for weapons possession or indeed is believed to have a weapon at the time of the incident and consequently each individual record would need to be searched to see if the incident related to a violent incident or the word had simply been entered because of a warning or potential for violence. The following data gives some indication of level of incidents associated with some form of violence or weapon. There is potential overlap of records if the same words are used within one log.
A search using the word ASSAULT' shows 200 logs from 1 April 2012
A search using the word FIGHT' shows 200 logs from 5 February 2012
A search using the word KNIFE' shows 200 logs from 15 November 2011.
A search using the word AGGRESSIVE' shows 200 logs from 8 September 2011 A search using the word WEAPON' shows 200 logs from 15 May 2011.
A search using the word VIOLENCE' shows 200 logs from 8 May 2011.
A search using the word VIOLENT' shows 200 logs from 20 March2011.
A search using the word GUN' shows 200 logs from 6 December 2010.
Resolution of such incidents will be through use of the Force continuum dependent upon the circumstances officers are faced with on attendance at any incident. A violent knife incident may be resolved through an offender putting the weapon down on arrival of police and offering no other resistance or they may aggressively resist police leading to the use of a greater level of force.
- The nature of any injuries sustained by the participants?
Injuries sustained by offenders and / or third parties are held within individual case file relevant to the incident in question. Specific detail of injuries are not ordinarily recorded on the log. In order to provide a response to the question it would be necessary to undertake a significant review of case files.
Records held by police in respect of injuries to officers on duty indicates the following numbers for the last 5 years where officers have been injured as a result of violence being used against them.
2007 – 7 2008 – 9 2009 – 9 2010 – 5 2011 – 4
However, records held for assaults on police indicates the following for the same time period:
2007 – Not available 2008 – 39
2009 – 45 2010 – 41
2011 - 38 2012 – 18 in first quarter to date – SIGNIFICANT INCREASE
- In how many of these instances might it have been appropriate to have recourse to TASERS if this had been available to Police at the time?
Whenever police officers deploy to a violent incident, part of the response process involves a dynamic risk assessment of the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) and appointments. This will include protective vests, CS spray, ASP baton. In the event of an incident being deemed a firearms incident and the appropriate authority for deployment granted, trained firearms officers will have access to further equipment which will include, AEP (Baton rounds), & conventional firearms.
In any violent incident attended by the police, whether that violence is aimed at the police or public, there is a need to try and deal with the incident in the safest possible way. The manner of dealing will therefore depend on many factors, including whether indoors or outdoors, in a busy or secluded place, whether public are at risk or not, whether the person has weapons of any sort, whether they have martial arts skills, whether they are emotionally or mentally distressed as a result of psychological issues or drugs or alcohol consumption, the age of the person, their personal build and known history in terms of violent offending An incident can quickly deteriorate into a very serious violent incident and therefore having recourse to TASER is but one option for officers seeking to deal with the specific incident.
A significant number of the violent incidents faced by police would become firearms incidents were it not for the courage of police officers having to put themselves in harm's way because they cannot wait for the relevant firearms support to be deployed.
- How many incidents would have required the use of conventional firearms, notwithstanding the potential use of TASERS.
The SOJP authorise on average 12 to 18 deployments of firearms per annum. A quarter of these may be for close protection during VIP visits and some will be pre- planned operation. Approximately half are spontaneous incidents where the relevant criteria for deployment are met.
SOJP has never fired a shot in an authorised firearms deployment but incidents have involved the pointing of the firearms at suspects.
- How many incidents have required the deployment of CS Incapacitant spray or a L104A1 Launcher.
In any firearms operation, the only less than lethal option currently available to police is the L104A1 AEP launcher. It is therefore deployed as standard equipment in every firearms incident. However because of tactical limitations in its use, it can only ever be deployed alongside conventional firearms.
CS incapacitant spray was authorised for use by the SOJP in 2001. A pilot took place from September 2001 to March 2002 and thereafter was rolled out operationally as officers across the Force were trained. The Force was fully trained by the end of 2002. At the time there was much public vocal comment regarding the introduction of CS spray.
The following figures are relevant to the use or drawing of CS spray.
Drawn Used Incidents Actual No.
involving weapons incidents
2002 21 12 9 21 2003 23 14 9 22 2004 28 18 5 21 2005 20 12 4 18 2006 17 14 4 16 2007 19 10 2 15 2008 13 9 7 12 2009 13 11 3 12
2010 7 2 2 5 2011 17 11 8 15
TOTALS 178 113 53 157
Brief details of incidents involving weapons for 2011:-
Knife – Domestic assault on daughter. Father armed himself with knife in communal hallway to keep officers at bay. - SPRAYED
Axe – Domestic. Son gone berserk. Eyewitness reports axe in possession of son. Aggressive Resisted arrest. Axe located nearby. - SPRAYED
Baseball bat – Following assault eyewitness advise baseball bat used. Officers stopped suspects and baseball bat dropped. – NOT SPRAYED
Meat Cleaver – Eyewitness reports male holding meat cleaver to girlfriends throat. Aggressive, resisted. NOT SPRAYED
Wheel Brace – Male shoplifter threatened shopkeeper with brace before stealing. Holding brace when stopped. NOT SPRAYED
Knife – Female making threats to cut throats and use knife to cause harm. Knife not located but in home address so access. SPRAYED
Knife – Male threatening self-harm. Dropped knife when challenged but would not comply with commands and resisted. SPRAYED
Knife – Domestic. Male threatening to harm anyone who approached with knife. Knife recovered. NOT SPRAYED – ASPS also DRAWN.