A year-end report showed an increase of more than 1,000 arrests in 2010 compared to 2009.
In 2010, Columbia police officers were called for dispatch nearly 67,000 times and initiated contact for another 94,019 incidents. Of these contacts, 7,909 resulted in arrests – a little less than 0.05 percent of all citizen contacts. This number is an increase from 2009’s 6,833 arrests and 2008’s 5,401 arrests.
“Any comments I would have as to why those numbers have gone up would be purely a guess,” CPD spokeswoman Jill Wieneke said in an e-mail. “There are too many variables to take into account.”
Officers utilized force in 616 incidents against 751 subjects. The report said 11 new categories of force were added in 2010. Among the added forms of force are canine bite and chemical gas.
“As a result, the number of the department’s Uses of Force will appear to be significantly higher than in the past,” the report stated.
Wieneke said these new categories would better allow CPD to track how, why and when officers are using all types of force, not just the more obvious forms like batons or mace. This will help them identify any potential issues related to the use of force, which will then be addressed during training or in policy.
Firearms were drawn on 284 subjects, but only fired them 37 times. Two of these discharges were found to be “improper.”
“‘Improper’ as used in this report would mean that the officer’s actions were found to be a violation of a policy or law, in these cases, a policy,” Wieneke said. “Both ‘improper’ firearms discharges were accidental discharges in which no one was injured – one at training and the other as an officer was checking their firearm as they were starting their shift.”
CPD’s SWAT team used chemical gas in one occasion, and a canine was used in another. Tasers were drawn on 39 occasions and deployed 14 times. Of all incidents involving force, 25 subjects were injured in the process, as were seven officers.
“If someone asks for medical attention, we make sure they get it, even if there is no visible injury and even if we think they are just trying to drag out the process of going to jail,” Wieneke said.
Fourteen vehicle pursuits occurred, one of which didn’t follow all procedural guidelines.
CPD received 140 compliments, countered by 175 complaints or inquiries. Ninety-seven of these wanted to pursue a formal complaint process or accused officers of misconduct.
Although acknowledging she had not compared this report to last year’s, Wieneke was reluctant to say there are any significant differences between the two.
“Significance is often in the eye of the beholder,” Wieneke said.