POLICE officers across West Mercia used force less often last year than they did before the pandemic according to new figures.

However, Home Office figures show the number of incidents in which West Mercia Police used force fell 18 per cent to 8,810 in the year to March, from 10,738 in 2019-2020 – the year before the coronavirus pandemic.

The figures come as a human rights charity says the police "should not be handed new powers", as it claims current ones put the public at risk of harm.

The picture was different across England and Wales, where 608,000 use of force incidents were recorded in 2021-22, up from 492,000 in 2019-20.

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Gavin Hales, a senior associate fellow at the Police Foundation think tank said last year involved “something of a return to normal crime levels” after a drop in crime over successive lockdowns."

He added that the rise could in part be due to the recruitment of new officers, and improved recording of incidents by police forces.

Across the country, 79 per cent of incidents involved restraining the subject – such as handcuffing or forcing them to the ground – with restraint tactics being used 6,816 times in West Mercia.

Men aged 18 to 34 are by far the most likely to be subject to police force nationally – 4,051 (46 per cent of) incidents in West Mercia involved people who fell into this category.

Emmanuelle Andrews, policy and campaigns manager at civil rights campaign group Liberty, said: “We all want to feel safe in our communities, but the Home Office report shows that this is often not true for black people.”

Across England and Wales, black people are 3.5 times more likely to be subject to the use of force tactics.

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Ms Andrews 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.”

Liberty has cautioned against calls to extend police powers.

A Home Office spokesperson said that sometimes force can be a "vital tool" in policing.

They said: “We are clear that nobody should experience force because of their race.

“The causes of racial disparities in the criminal justice system are complex and reflect broader social inequalities the UK Government is committed to tackling.”