The Saskatoon Police Service is reporting that in 2020 there were 263 instances where officers need to use force to put someone into custody.

With a total of 74,411 calls for service last year, that means use of force was only needed in 0.35 percent of total incidents.

There are numerous categories in which use of force falls into, but last year altercations resulted in 108 suspects being injured, with 38 being hospitalized. There were also 22 police officers injured in the line of duty, with only two requiring a hospital visit. No one was killed in Saskatoon last year during police encounters.

Of the police defined uses of force the most used in 2020 by officers were a combination of strikes and throws at 92 occurrences, the canine unit saw 42 incidents, conducted energy weapons were used 25 times and police discharged firearms only twice in 2020.

Use of force was down eight incidents from 2019’s 271 events, but that year also saw over 10,000 more calls to the police service.

The Tactical Support Unit was called out to 45 occurrences in 2020 and deployed 62 times. However the TSU only use physical force twice during the last year. The Saskatoon Police Service explains while the mere presence of the TSU is often enough to get people to surrender peacefully, every deployment is considered a use of force.