Officers must report all use of force

New rules, which come into force on April 1 say all officers must record any use of force in the same way, regardless of where they work.

During the consultation process for the new form the Police Federation worked to ensure the burden on members is as minimal as possible.

A spokesman said: “We also wanted to make sure that once all this data is collected, it will be used as constructively as possible for officers across the country.

“For the first time, we will have robust data from all forces demonstrating which techniques and equipment really work and which do not.

“We will make sure that this information is used to change things like officer safety training to reflect what we need to do our job properly.

“At the same time, if certain equipment isn’t up to the standard we need, we will now have an evidence base to show this.”