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Use of force
Each day Surrey Police respond to thousands of incidents across the communities we serve as we fulfil our role of upholding the law and keeping the peace. The vast majority of these matters are resolved without requiring any form of conflict. However, on very rare occasions there is a necessity for our officers to use force to safely diffuse a situation in order to protect people and themselves from harm.
Use of force tactics include; an officer taking hold of someone's arm, using handcuffs, deploying a police dog and using a baton, irritant spray, Taser or firearm.
In all of our interactions we have a duty to act professionally and only use force that is reasonable, justifiable and proportionate for the circumstances. These interactions must also be in accordance with the principles provided by the Code of Ethics: accountability, fairness, honesty, integrity, leadership, objectivity, openness, respect and selflessness.
It is important to recognise that each use of force incident involves a unique set of circumstances, with the officer's decision making based on a suspect's actions. Throughout any incident our officers continuously reassess the circumstances and adjust their response as appropriate to the evolving situation.
Every three months, an External Scrutiny Panel meets to discuss Surrey Police’s use of force and stop search. It's chaired independently and made up of a group of community members who hold senior officers to account, by asking questions and reviewing and scrutinising our use of these powers through review of Body Worn Video, records of completed forms and data trends.
Discussions from the External Scrutiny Panel feed into a quarterly Internal Governance meeting, where force leads and department representatives meet to jointly discuss key points that were raised by the External Scrutiny Panel, and conduct their own reviews of footage, forms, and data to inform policy and training practices.
For the latest statistics and data, key findings, summaries, and full minutes from the latest meetings, please click here.