Southern police were subject to more complaints and notifications regarding their use of force last year than officers in Auckland City, according to a new police report.
The 2017 Tactical Options Research report released yesterday showed there were 26 use of force complaints and notifications to the Independent Police Conduct Authority last year in the Southern District (Otago and Southland), compared with 25 in Auckland City.
Auckland City has the largest population of all 12 police districts.
Of the complaints and notifications in the South, 21 were for officers with empty hands (unarmed), three related to handcuffs/restraints, one each were for use of pepper spray and Taser.
Waikato and Wellington had the highest number of such complaints, tied on 50, followed by Counties Manukau with 40.
The report also showed the Southern District had fewer total uses of the Taser (including presentations and discharges) than average, both in total and per 10,000 offenders.
There were 68 total Taser incidents last year in the South, compared with the national average of 99 across all police districts.
Of these, five involved discharges with Taser probes, 13 were ``presentations'', 49 ``paintings'' with the weapon's laser sight, while one was electrical arcing of the device.
Nationally, the report found the most common types of force used by police last year were ``empty hand tactics'' (39%), handcuffs and restraints (34%), pepper spray (32%) and Tasers (26%) of the 4536 use-of-force events.
Less frequently deployed were firearms and dogs (6% each) and batons (1%).
