Gun numbers spike in Edmonton with officers pulling, pointing theirs 35% more

A file photo of the EPS Tactical Unit.

The number of times police in Edmonton used force against citizens rose sharply last year, with officers pulling and/or pointing their guns 1733 times, a 35 per cent increase in one year.

Edmonton Police Service officers have shot and killed four people in 2022, a rate that is also on the rise. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is still investigating those files.

"One thing to take into consideration is the proliferation of firearms in our streets and in suspect vehicles. In 2021, we had 1,633 firearms that we seized in our service, compared to 1,125 in 2020," said Deputy Chief Kevin Brezinski.

In total, EPS reported 3,179 "use of force occurrences" in 2021, a 19 per cent increase over 2020, the city's police commission heard Thursday.

"As a community, we should be concerned that there's an increased threat of violence in our communities, and as a result, officers are having to approach scenes with weapons drawn as opposed to a different manner. It's a cause for concern," said Commissioner Erick Ambtman.

The drawing of tasers also increased 36 per cent, and takedowns were up 8 per cent. Some specific tactics declined, including the use of batons, down 18 per cent, and the use of pepper spray which fell 25 per cent.

'CONNECTED TO ORGANIZED CRIME AND GANGS'

The stats come with a parallel report showing that overall crime and the severity of incidents decreased in Edmonton from 2016 to 2020, although Chief Dale McFee believes those numbers are likely on the rise since then.

"I don't think we should ever accept more guns as a reality. We gotta get more guns off the street," he told CTV News Edmonton Thursday.

"We know that most of these guns are connected to organized crime and gangs and also the gun trade, for the most part. So we've invested in technology to get guns off the street, and we have to continue to get guns off the street."

McFee was referring to the new Firearms Examinations Unit (FEU), which includes a mobile facility for uploading images of casings to cross-reference them with a national database. The report said FEU has resulted in "leads on 42 different files."

EPS defines "use of force" as any physical contact beyond "cooperative handcuffing," or any incident that causes an injury.

A report must be filed when officers use "stunning techniques, direct mechanical techniques, chemical agents (O.C. spray), conducted energy weapon (CEW), control instruments, impact weapons, special impact munitions," or when a "firearm was drawn, displayed or pointed."

Officers responded to a total of 377,049 "events" in 2021, and 231,718 of those resulted in a police report being filed. "Use of force" was used in 0.84 per cent of all "events."

In December 2020, the service conducted a review of its "use of force" policies in response to "public opinion advancing unfavourably (to police) throughout North America."

Some of the recommendations in that review included improving the "completeness" of "use of force" reporting and to ensure that they are "authentic or correct." The report says better tracking of instances is a factor in the overall number increasing.