Austin police using less force

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Austin Police officers are not using tasers, pepper spray or hand-to-hand control techniques as much as they used to. A new response to resistance report is out from APD headquarters and shows the use of force dropped by 22 percent from 2006 to 2007. In fact, APD said most incidents of force are down during that year. Officers used pepper spray 37 percent less, and the use of tasers dropped 14 percent.

"Obviously we're very pleased with that," said Austin Police Department Assistant Chief Al Eells, "The vast majority of the time the officers are making the right decision."

The report comes as the United States Department of Justice continues its investigation into APD's use of force. While that investigation is ongoing, the department is also tracking its own. The statistics show most of the use of force happened downtown from 12 a.m. to 2:59 a.m. in the morning when most people are getting out of bars.

Eells said training is also a part of the reason the statistics might have dropped. All APD officers are going through Krav Maga combat training. Krav Maga, the official combat technique of the Israeli Defense Forces, is a combat technique that many law enforcement agencies across the country use.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said last week, the training is going to help officers from getting into situations like the Daniel Rocha incident from 2005. Officer Julie Schroeder shot and killed Rocha after a scuffle. The Austin City Council just paid the Rocha family $1 million. Eells said training is a key component of APD's use of force.

"We hope that the incidents that are the type that would be very public would be minimized," said Eells.

"Knowing how to do these things gives you a certain type of confidence and it causes less conflict," said Heath Jones, a Krav Maga instructor in Austin. "I know that any officer that trains with us is better for it," said Jones.