WHAT COUNTS?

 

                                              MDP officers in Whitehall.  Highly trained and carrying Taser, Firearms                                                 and other PPE.  If they have to use force/restraint the incident does not                                                   appear in the relevant police dataset.  Picture:  MOD

What Counts?

The government sometimnes includes Non Home Department Police Forces (NHDPFs), or at least some of them, in some sets of statistics but not in others.  To the public this might, if anyone were interested, seem rather strange.  I think it is.  NHDPFs have nothing to hide.

The latest statistics on the Use of Force by the police service in England and Wales was published today.  It contains a lot of data and its conclusions are nuanced.  It is not the sort of document that lends itself to simple headlines or conclusions.  The data represents an important element in the policy of transparency in policing.  The legitimate use of force by police officers is a feature of the unique nature of the police service.  It is clear that a lot of time and effort goes into trying to get the best data to produce informed conclusions.  Those who work in this field are to be thanked for their contribution to achieving a proper understanding of how the police use their virtual monopoly on the use legitimate of force.  The dataset ranges from the use of restraints (mainly handcuffs) through to the use of firearms.  It is pretty comprehensive.

One slight oddity is that the data does not include figures from most NHDPFs, with only the  (partial) inclusion of data from the British Transport Police (BTP).

On one level it is obvious that NHDPFs (with the exception of BTP) account for a very small proportion of the incidents of the use of force – statistically the figures may well not be significant in determining trends etc.  However, from the perspective of a member of public, I would like to see ALL uses of force by police recorded in one place. 

NHDPFs are among the most heavily armed forces in the UK, even if such weaponry is rarely deployed.  Is it really the case that if an MDP or CNC officer were to use serious force that it wouldn’t appear in the stats?

Nearly all the NHDPFs, including some of the smallest, have officers equipped with personal protective equipment, including incapacitant spray, modern batons and handcuffs.  How difficult would it be to include the figures from these forces?

I think I detect a whiff of an old attitude here.  An attitude that says that what NHDPFs do is somehow less important than anything done by a territorial force – even when it obviously is.  But of course, I could be imagining it. 

The public don't care what legislation or government department governs a constabulary.  They do care about the police use of force.

This helpful set of stats is available at:  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-use-of-force-statistics-april-2024-to-march-2025/police-use-of-force-statistics-england-and-wales-april-2024-to-march-2025

 

November 2025

All opinions expressed are my own and do not represent the views of any of the organisations mentioned or of any clients of Scott Trendall Ltd.