POLICE had to use force on suspects in more than 4,000 locations in 12 months.

Figures released in December by North Yorkshire Police looked at use of force by its officers, and found force had to be used 7,445 times, including incidents in hospitals/A&E (125 times), mental health settings (59 times), ambulances (24 times), and on public transport (seven times).

The most common use of force was 'tactical communications', or speaking with a suspect (2,109 times), followed by 'unarmed skills' (1,578), and handcuffing (2,104).

There were also 21 instances of a dog being deployed, 67 uses of spit guards, 141 uses of irritant/PAVA spray, and 230 uses of TASER.

Rob Bowles, chair of the North Yorkshire Police Federation, said the figures demonstrated the "challenging and dangerous nature of the job our members do in the protection of the public".

He said: "The circumstances of these incidents show the professionalism of our members and the fact that force is only used as a last resort when all other means to resolve the situation have been exhausted. They also demonstrate that the type of force used is proportionate to the circumstances."

York Press:

Chief Inspector Bowles said use of force was likely to increase following a national reduction in the number of police officers - by 21,000 nationally since 2010, and by about 15 per cent in North Yorkshire since 2008 - as officers were "more likely to be working alone and without immediate support from their colleagues", and there was "much less visual deterrence to violent behaviour" making "the need to use force more likely".

He said: "It is extremely saddening to see that our officers have had to use force in settings and situations where it should never have been necessary.

"The police use of force in hospitals and medical settings confirms an alarming trend where, because of the erosion of mental health and other services and with nowhere else for the public to turn, the police are used as the service of first resort. This additional demand also coincides with police numbers being at their lowest recorded level since the early 1980s. The combination of increased demand, in situations where other services would be better skilled, and massive reductions in police numbers have diminished the service that we can provide to the public."