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Police officers in the Cleveland force area used force more often last year than they did before the pandemic, new figures show.

Home Office figures show the number of incidents in which Cleveland Police used force rose by 52% to 16,610 in the year to March 2022, up from 11,048 in 2019-2020, the year before the coronavirus pandemic.

Of the incidents last year, 348 resulted in the subject being injured.

In England and Wales, 608,000 use of force incidents were recorded in 2021-22, up from 492,000 in 2019-20.

Emmanuelle Andrews, policy and campaigns manager at civil rights campaign group Liberty, said: “Dehumanising police tactics, especially those involving use of force, don’t keep us safe but instead subject people to traumatic and distressing experiences, leaving a lasting impact on both individuals and communities.”

A Home Office spokesperson said force sometimes can be a "vital tool" in policing and that it is now easier for officers to use body-worn video – giving greater opportunity to scrutinise incidents.

Police using force more often across Cleveland than before the pandemic