Ontario’s Anti-Racism Act requires police serices to start collecting data on the race of people who have experienced a use of force when interacting with police.
Stratford Police have wrapped up data collection on the use of force when interacting with police as of 2020.
Use of force includes drawing a handgun in the presence of a member of the public, pointing a firearm at a person or discharging a firearm, use of a weapon other than a firearm on another person or using physical force on another person which results in injury requiring medical attention.
In 2020 Stratford Police submitted 41 use of force reports with 2 being incidents involving people from the BIPOC communities with 2021 seeing 51 reports, four of those involving people from our BIPOC communities.
Stratford Police continue to be educated on topics of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion along with participation in scenario-based training, designed to enhance officers’ cultural awareness and to improve verbal de-escalation skills.
As of 2022, all Stratford officers are required to utilize body cameras and capture interactions.
