City of Hermosa Beach
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The Hermosa Beach Police Department strives to be a leader in Police-Community relations and to consistently follow best practices in policy and procedures. Part of these efforts include continual review of its use of force policies and other areas that impact the Police Department's ability to serve the community.
The Department's commitment to provide excellent service to the community is outlined in it's Where We Stand document, which connects the #8cantwait policy recommendations to California law governing police use of force, department policy, and training provided to Police Department employees.
Statistics
Department use of force statistics for the past five calendar years can be found below.
| Hermosa Beach Police Department Use of Force 5-Year Data (2016-2020) |
|||||
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| Citizen Contacts* | 27414 | 26356 | 30524 | 25462 | 20328 |
| Use of Force Incidents | 12 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 13 |
| 0.04% | 0.03% | 0.03% | 0.02% | 0.06% | |
| Type of Force Used** | |||||
| Firearm | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Electronic Control Weapons (EWC) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Baton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chemical/OC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Weaponless | 18 | 14 | 19 | 11 | 24 |
| Injuries | |||||
| Suspects Receiving Non-Fatal Injuries | 13 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
| Suspects Receiving Fatal Injuries | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Incidents Resulting in Officer Injuries | 4 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
| Complaints | |||||
| Total Citizen Complaints | 15 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 7 |
| Use of Force Complaints | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27% | 10% | 14% | 0% | 0% | |
*Citizen contacts includes dispatched calls, officer initiated calls, traffic stops, subject stops, and other calls
**There may be more than one type of force used on any given incident.
Note: There is a notable increase in the number of Use of Force incidents in 2020 compared to the previous year. This increase can be attributed to a Department policy update that took effect in February 2020. The update clarified what is considered reportable force and significantly lowered the threshold of when a use of force report would be required. The Department adapted well to the updated policy and reported incidents that may not have been previously documented as a use of force incident.