Transgender People Twice As Likely To Be Hurt By Police

1 August 2017, 10:23 | Updated: 1 August 2017, 10:24

Police handcuffing a suspect
Police handcuffing a suspect. Picture: iStock

Police are twice as likely to injure a transgender person when using force, new figures show.

The Met Police has released statistics showing their officers' use of force from April to June this year.

And it shows that transgender people were hurt 10.8% of times that force was used, compared with 5.3% for men and 4.1% for women.

However, it's important to point out that the figures for these are low - four transgender people injured from 37 uses of force - so the statistical significance can be debated.

The figures also show that people with a mental disability were more likely to receive an injury - 6.8% compared with 4.9%.

And interestingly, white men were more likely to be hurt when police used force than black people - 5.9% compared with 5.0%.

Stats show officers only fired tasers 9.1% of the times they were drawn
Stats show officers only fired tasers 9.1% of the times they were drawn. Picture: PA

The statistics also show the use of weapons by Met Police officers.

Firearms were drawn 281 times, but only fired twice. Tasers also proved to be a powerful deterrent, with the weapons only fired 9.1% of the time they were drawn.

Batons were used 31% of the time when drawn, while CS Spray was used 78% of the time when drawn by police.