Use of Force
Throughout the Years
When a JSO officer uses force to overcome someone's resistance, JSO calls it a Response to Resistance (RTR) and requires a report. JSO summarizes those reports each year in its Open Data Report. The charts below follow those figures from 2015 through 2025.
JSO has changed what it counts several times: splitting police from corrections in 2019, switching from counting force applications to counting incidents in 2021, and widening what must be reported. Each chart's note says where that limits comparison. Every point is a count JSO published for that year unless the note says otherwise.
Response to Resistance Incidents
How many incidents JSO reported in which an officer used force that required a Response to Resistance (RTR) report. Note: Through 2018, JSO reported a single RTR total (the 2017 and 2018 reports say it covers police, corrections and judicial officers). From 2019 it reports police and corrections separately, and the "All officers" line from 2019 on is our sum of those two figures, not a total JSO published. Judicial officers aren't broken out after 2018, so the line isn't guaranteed to cover exactly the same officers before and after. The 2024 report added a reporting criterion (a restrained subject struck in the head or neck), and the 2025 corrections figure excludes nine incidents still under review.
Data obtained from JSO Open Data Reports
Force Applications, 2015-2020
Each separate use of a force technique. One incident can involve several applications, so these run higher than incident counts. Note: The reports stopped publishing an application total after 2020. The "All officers" line for 2019 and 2020 is our sum of the police and corrections figures, not a total JSO published; as with incidents, the 2015-2018 totals may not cover exactly the same officers.
Data obtained from JSO Open Data Reports
Police Force by Technique, 2021-2025
Police use-of-force incidents involving each technique. An incident can involve more than one. Note: Earlier reports counted force applications by type rather than incidents, so this chart starts at 2021. The earlier figures are on each year's report page.
Data obtained from JSO Open Data Reports
Corrections Force by Technique, 2021-2025
Corrections use-of-force incidents involving each technique. An incident can involve more than one. Note: Because an incident can involve more than one technique, these counts add up to more than the incident total every year. The 2022 report calculated its percentages from technique counts rather than incidents, so compare the counts here rather than the reports' percentages. Earlier reports counted force applications instead and are left off.
Data obtained from JSO Open Data Reports
People Involved in Use of Force
Distinct officers, suspects and inmates involved in at least one use-of-force incident that year. Note: The 2015-2018 reports give combined figures that mix police and corrections, so this chart starts at 2019 when they were first reported separately.
Data obtained from JSO Open Data Reports
Suspects and Inmates Injured
Suspects (police incidents) and inmates (corrections incidents) who were injured, or alleged an injury. Note: The 2019 suspect injury chart contradicts the report's own text about how many were injured, so that year is left blank for suspects. Since 2017, reports have counted alleged injuries and injuries not directly caused by force, which JSO says raised the totals.
Data obtained from JSO Open Data Reports
Deaths from Use of Force
People who died from force used by JSO officers, as each report states it. Note: Reports describe this differently over time ("shot fatally", "fatal injuries from deadly force", "fatally injured"), so wording, not just counts, changes between years.
Data obtained from JSO Open Data Reports
Officer-Involved Shootings
The number of officer-involved shooting incidents JSO reported each year. Note: Counts are incidents, not people shot or officers involved.
Data obtained from JSO Open Data Reports
Unnecessary Force Allegations
Allegations of unnecessary force that JSO reported reviewing, against how many were sustained. Note: From the 2020 report on, most allegations in the total were closed after an initial review (such as of body-worn camera video) without a formal investigation, so they have no formal disposition. Earlier reports fold such cases into their disposition counts. The 2015-2016 reports used a different measure and are not included.
Data obtained from JSO Open Data Reports