Complaint about excessive use of force/injury during arrest - West Yorkshire Police, June 2017

In June 2017 two West Yorkshire Police (WYP) officers arrested a man for domestic-violence related offences. The officers said that the man resisted as they tried to arrest him and a violent scuffle ensued, during which, the man alleged, the officers used unreasonable force on him. In the scuffle, one officer received a cut to his eye which required hospital treatment, the other officer received a sprained wrist. The man was also taken to hospital, where he was treated for a fractured eye socket. Some of the officers’ interaction with the man was captured on police body-worn videos (BWV), however, the officer’s BWV had been turned off prior to the use of force.

During the investigation, investigators interviewed the officers involved, examined the available BWV footage, applicable policy and procedure, and obtained statements from the man and other witnesses.

Based on the evidence available, and weighing the man’s account against the officers’ and the available BWV footage, we were of the opinion that the officers’ decision to use force to prevent the man from assaulting them was justified.

We identified learning for both officers for not keeping their BWV turned on, which was against force policy.

After reviewing our report, WYP advised that both officers would be reminded of the expectation that all officers trained in the use of BWV should deploy in the event of public contact for a policing purpose.