Our use of force

Gloucestershire Constabulary is here to serve the public and place them at the heart of everything we do.

Our officer’s everyday respond to hundreds of incidents across the county of Gloucestershire to ensure that we uphold the law and keep people safe from harm. The vast majority of these incidents are resolved safely and without any form of conflict but there are on the very seldom occasion where our officers need to use force to help safely diffuse a situation to that they and others are protected from harm.

The types of tactics that are used which are considered as force include; deploying of specialist resources such as dogs or Taser trained officers, using handcuffs or a baton to help make an arrest or even taking hold of someone’s arm to placate that person. Every time one of our officers use force we log these so that there is transparency in the way that we police the county. The date is used to ensure that we police the county fairly and is also used to help inform and train officers.

We publish our data so that you can see what force has been used during a particular year. 

In order to meet the national requirements for forces to make the data for use of force more accessible, we will be looking to make further enhancements to this page to help enable a more self-service approach. Please check back soon to keep up to date with our developments.

Use of Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs)

Similar to forces across the country a number of officers in the Constabulary are trained to use Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs), specifically Tasers.

Officers from a range of appropriate departments, including firearms and response units, are trained to use Tasers and we regularly review our numbers against appropriate local and national strategic risks.

Comprehensive training, selection, governance and monitoring are in place and CED deployments across the UK are monitored by the National Less-Lethal Weapons Secretariat.

Before being entered on to a Taser course, officers must be first-aid trained, pass an eyesight test, pass a professional standards record check and be officer safety trained (with knowledge of, and training in, law, self-defence and restraint).

Taser is one of many tactical options available to resolve situations, including the threat of serious violence, which can come from any section of the public.

In certain circumstances the use of CEDs is more appropriate than other options in resolving dangerous situations safely and with less risk of serious injury.