Science informing Edmonton police on use of force approaches

Body camera footage from an Edmonton police training simulation for media on Sept. 18, 2024.

While scenario training is a large part of what new Edmonton police recruits are put through, other modern, scientific methods are being used to educate and equip officers.

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) has started using heart-rate monitors to pinpoint where clear thinking gets more difficult, virtual reality to simulate more than one perspective in a scenario and body cameras to help give more clarity on what occurred during incidents.

• Download the CTV News App for breaking news alerts on all the top Edmonton stories

EPS Deputy Chief Warren Driechel, who oversees the community safety and well-being bureau, says police are trying to evolve and "mature our program."

"We have to go to people that are in crisis, severe incidents of mental health that maybe we didn't deal with a decade ago, so how do we evolve our training to deal with those?" Driechel told CTV News Edmonton.

"I think it's also very important to recognize is that there's no real playbook. These things are very fluid.

"You could be present with one situation that's very calm, very peaceful, and it can suddenly escalate very quickly, so we have to train our peace officers to be able to be able to respond quickly, not only react to it, but assess the situation, go through all those different options they have, and then find the best option that works"

Police statistics show force or control tactics were used in about 1,700 of 134,000 calls, or 1.26 per cent of them.

The number for the first half of this year is on par for the same time period the past two years ... despite an increase in calls dealing with potentially violent individuals.

"I think that's an important number because I think people think that every time that we're going somewhere, we're using force. The reality is we're not," Driechel said.

"The data also shows that we're seeing reductions in overall in crime, but we're seeing incremental increases in violence, so where things are more violent ... our use of force is staying the same.

"It's a bit of a testament to the training and how we're deploying our members and what they're doing,"

The information is a part of a report on EPS control tactics presented on Thursday to the Edmonton Police Commission.

EPS Chief Dale McFee said in a media conference following Thursday's police commission meeting that putting "a little bit more science around it I hope will actually help us get more results."

"It has been proven in some of the US jurisdictions – and most of them are in (the report) – that it has reduced it even more. Any time that we don't have to use use of force, there's less likelihood that one of our members is going to get hurt or one of the members of the public." 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Galen McDougall