The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of State Police

DEVAL L. PATRICK
GOVERNOR

ANDREA J. CABRAL
SECRETARY

COLONEL TIMOTHY P. ALBEN

SUPERINTENDENT

State Police Middleboro Headquarters 326 West Grove Street Middleboro, Massachusetts 02346
January, 2014

To:

Colonel Timothy P. Alben, #0534 Superintendent Lieutenant Colonel James M. Hanafin, #1150 Deputy Superintendent

From:

Major Anthony E. Thomas Jr., #1987 President Use of Force Committee

Subject: Use of Force Yearly Report 2013

1. The Use of Force Committee (UOF) Report for 2013 is a data compilation of Use of Force (SP376s) incidents, by sworn members of the department in compliance with UOF-03 (Reports). The following members; Detective Captain Joseph Duggan, Captain Thomas Donoghue, Captain James Coughlin, Lieutenant Robert Leverone and I reviewed 240 Use of Force (SP376s) incidents in FY2013. To date, there are 2 UOF reports (2013-0246- MSP Watertown-Tsarnaev), (2013-0416-Sgt RF Fries shooting) held pending the completion of ongoing criminal investigations and DIS reviews. The UOF Committee expects these outstanding UOF reports to be resolved in FY2014. In FY2013 there were no UOF incidents referred back to any department division or the Internal Affairs Unit for further review or investigation. 2. In 2012 UOF Committee referred to the Departments Strategic Planning Section, a position paper on recommended language changes to the UOF-01 policy relating to discharging rounds from firearms at moving vehicles. In FY 2013 language was incorporated in UOF-01 relating to discharging rounds from firearms at moving vehicles. 3. In FY 2012 the IA PRO software became the central depository for all UOF reports. In 2013 the IA PRO software data base continues to be in use and performs

Excellence In Service Through Quality Policing

exceedingly well in efficient entries/retrievals of UOF incidents, case tracking, statistical compilation and a risk management early warning alert mechanism. 4. I submitted for your review the attached UOF Committee Yearly Report for FY 2013 with accompanying data spreadsheet/illustrations.

Respectfully Submitted,

Anthony E. Thomas Jr.

Anthony E. Thomas Jr., #1987 Major Massachusetts State Police Troop D Commanding Officer

Excellence In Service Through Quality Policing

Use of Force Totals Yearly Comparison 2012/2013

55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
O C

53 49

51

53 43 Totals 201 34 24 15 4 0 7 2
Ta se r

2012

2013

240

36

34

22

12

0
d ur e ce rI nj In j

2
ur ed ha ni ze d Bi te s K 9

ra y

Te ch

on tr ol T

St rik in g

Fi re ar m

Sp

ec h

O ffe nd er

O f fi

There was a 19% increase in 2013 (201 in 2012, 240 in 2013)

ni m al

Eu t

Use of Force Totals 2013 Breakdown By Category

Total UOF Reports (SP 376)
OC Spray, 53, 22%

K9 Bites, 12, 5% Animal Euthanized, 34, 14% Officer Injured, 7, 3%

240

Offender Injured, 43, 18%

Control Tech, 53, 22%

Taser, 0, 0% Firearm, 4, 2%

Striking Tech, 34, 14%

Use Of Force For 2013 Breakdown By Troop

Total Reports (SP 376)
GHQ 0% DIS 0%

240

F Troop 0%

H Troop 20%

A Troop 16%

E Troop 4% D Troop 13%

B Troop 26%

C Troop 21%

A Troop B Troop C Troop D Troop E Troop F Troop H Troop GHQ DIS

38 63 51 32 9 0 47 0 0

OC Spray and Control Techniques each accounted for 22% of the total with B-Troop leading in both areas with 19 for OC Spray and 18 for Control Techniques.

OC Spray Used For 2013

GHQ 0% DIS 0% F Troop 0% E Troop 2% H Troop 21%

Total OC Spray Reports (SP 376)

53

A Troop 17%

A Troop B Troop C Troop D Troop E Troop

9 19 11 2 1 0 0 0

D Troop 4% B Troop 35%

F Troop GHQ DIS

C Troop 21%

H Troop 11

OC Spray Accounted for 22% of the total with B-Troop Leading with 19 uses of spray

Control Techniques Used For 2013

GHQ 0% F Troop 0% DIS 0%

Total Control Techniques Reports (SP 376)

53

H Troop 19%

A Troop 17%

A Troop B Troop C Troop D Troop E Troop F Troop GHQ

9 18 8 4 4 0 0 0

E Troop 8% D Troop 8% B Troop 33% C Troop 15%

H Troop 10 DIS

Control Techniques Accounted for 22% of the total with B-Troop Leading with 18.

Striking Techniques Used For 2013

GHQ 0% F Troop 0% DIS 0% A Troop 21%

Total Striking Techniques Reports (SP 376)

34

H Troop 18%

A Troop B Troop C Troop D Troop E Troop

B Troop 26%

7 9 9 1 2 0 6 0 0

E Troop 6% D Troop 3%

F Troop H Troop GHQ DIS

C Troop 26%

Striking Techniques Accounted for 14% of the total with B/C-Troop Leading with 9.

Offenders Injured For 2013

GHQ 0% DIS 0% H Troop 23%

Total Offenders Injured Reports (SP 376)

43

A Troop
A Troop 21%

9 5 12 6 1 0 10 0 0

B Troop C Troop D Troop E Troop F Troop H Troop GHQ DIS

F Troop 0%

B Troop 12% E Troop 2% D Troop 14% C Troop 28%

Offender injured was up 79% with 43, up 19 from 2012

*To accurately reflect UOF incidents by geographic area (Troops), BIS and GHQ UOF reports have been included within the troop of occurrence CONTROL TROOP OC SPRAY TECHNIQUES Striking TECHNIQUES Firearm Taser Offender Injured Officer Injured Animal Euthanized K-9 Bites Troop Totals

Use of Force Totals 2013

A B C D E F H GHQ DIS Totals

9 19 11 2 1 0 11 0 0 53

9 18 8 4 4 0 10 0 0 53

7 9 9 1 2 0 6 0 0 34

0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 4

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

9 5 12 6 1 0 10 0 0 43

3 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 7

1 12 4 13 1 0 3 0 0 34

0 0 7 4 0 0 1 0 0 12

38 63 51 32 9 0 47 0 0 240

Officer injured was up 250% with 7, an increase of 5 over year Animals euthanized decreased from last year accounting for 14% of total UOF K-9 bites accounted for 5% with 12, a 20% decrease from 15 in 2012