New figures showing the use of police force in west London have been published by the Met.

The data, which covers a three month period from April 1 to June 30, show the borough with the highest instances to be the City of Westminster.

In total, there were 12,605 police force incidents in London, with most incidents against men aged between 18 and 34 years.

Further examination of the figures show 45% of people were white, 36% per cent black and 10% per cent from the Asian community, and nearly 14% of people were believed to have mental health issues.

The statistics are likely to include thief Jake Nedd, who on June 4 was rammed off a bicycle by police after he was spotted stealing from a parked car in Fulham (see video above).

The statistics have been released by the Met in support of the Home Office Annual Data Review requirement, and is broken down by borough and officer’s role and includes the gender, ethnicity and age of the individuals concerned, as well as the times and locations of the incidents.

After Westminster, the highest west London borough is Hammersmith and Fulham, where 468 instances of force by the Met were recorded - narrowly ahead of Hillingdon on 445.

Use of force incident by borough

Met Police Service borough Use of force incidents
City of Westminster 965
Hammersmith and Fulham 468
Hillingdon 445
Kensington and Chelsea 435
Brent 420
Ealing 374
Hounslow 274
Harrow 221
Total 12,605

Brent has one of the lowest figures in the capital with 221 instances of force used.

The most reported use of force tactic used in London was handcuffing a compliant person - 5,397, and spitguards, currently being trialled, were used 25 times in this period.

Dog bites accounted for 17 instances, and there are two instances recorded under "firearm fired".

During the three month period, records show Taser guns were fired in only 10.5% of cases deployed, highlighting its effective use at defusing potentially volatile situations and reducing the need for further use of force techniques.

In total, force was used against 10,925 men, 1,643 women and 37 transgender people.

The borough with the lowest use of force in London was Havering with 188, which had two fewer than Richmond.

During the same quarterly period, 643 officers were hurt, with 10 suffering severe injuries, and the rest minor injuries.

Commander Matt Twist, who heads the Met’s response, said: “Our officers face the most dangerous situations every day. It is important we give them the right training and equipment to do the job.

“Use of force techniques are there to stop violence and danger, protecting not only the officer making an arrest but also the public at the scene, and the person being arrested.”

He said the publishing of the data was a “positive step for the Met” that would “ensure transparency to the public who will get a better idea of what officers face on a day-to-day basis”.

Comm Twist also said officers would have to get into the habit of recording use of force: “It will take time for us to ensure officers comply with filling out this form after every use of force interaction becomes routine or second nature.

“We know that there will be instances of force used in this period which have not been recorded, but having scrutinised the data, we have already seen a steady increase in online recording.

“We have been training officers on the new form through officer safety training and briefings.”

The data will be published on the Met’s website at least every three months.

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