The Riley County Police Department’s use of force numbers increased slightly, between 2019 and 2020.
Captain Josh Kyle addressed the Riley County Law Board Monday, regarding the analysis of the Use of Force Report.
There was a 6% increase in total use of force incidents and a 4% increase in applications of force from 2019 to 2020. RCPD assumes this may be due to a new accreditation standard, that calls for reporting each time a taser is pulled.
The numbers showed no deeply concerning patterns among race and use of force, but the department said continued evaluation is warranted. Kyle says they are looking for substantial differences that may flag concerns.
Kyle says they are training new officers to understand the proper use of force for all circumstances which may arise.
About one third of those who has force used on them were experiencing mental health issues and another third were said to be under the influence of alcohol/drugs.
In 2020, RCPD filed 106 use of force reports, involving 120 human beings and 329 separate applications of force in response to aggression and/or resistance, according to data. The report shows 53 incidents (44.2%) involved African Americans while 57 incidents (47.5%) involved white/Caucasian offenders. The remaining 10 cases involved persons of Hispanic, Asian or Native American descent.
A detailed breakdown of the numbers can be found on pages 38 to 58 of the Oct. 18 Law Board packet, provided below.
10-18-21_law_board_packet