Officers fill out 10-page form whenever they use force despite Theresa May’s 2011 promise to get rid of ‘grinding’ bureaucracy

Police in England and Wales have spoken out against a “staggeringly bureaucratic” rule that means officers have to fill out a 10-page form whenever they use force against someone.

The policy, which was implemented in April, means officers have to give extensive information in instances where they use anything from a baton to CS spray or handcuffs.

It comes despite Theresa May’s promise in 2011, when she was home secretary, to get rid of “grinding” bureaucracy inhibiting policing.

Simon Kempton, operational lead on policing for the Police Federation, said that the police had an incredibly important job to do. But he said the level of bureaucracy in the current system for recording use of force was “staggering in most places”.

He added that if it did not change “we risk officers being sat behind desks rather than stood in their communities”.

The home secretary, Amber Rudd, announced the new rules around recording force in March. She said: “When police take the difficult decision to deploy force, it is also vital that the people they serve can scrutinise it. These new rules will introduce unprecedented transparency to this important subject and reinforce the proud British model of policing by consent.”

While Kempton agreed that it was important to record use of force for transparency reasons, he said that if the government want officers to do this then they need more resources and better IT systems.

He said currently some forces had more up-to-date technology, which meant that the use of force form was easier to complete.

He said: “It’s up to chief officers to provide bobbies on the street and the right computer and software so the burden [of filling out forms] is minimised as much as possible.”

Kempton added: “In the worst case you could spend 20 minutes per person [filling out a form].” He said it was like going back to the old days, where officers had to note everything down on paper, saying it was vital “to get the IT right”.

John Apter, the chairman of the Hampshire Police Federation, reportedly agreed that the form was too complex and took too long to complete. He said it would be better to scan officers’ pocketbooks and use these samples to provide and analyse data.

A spokesperson for the National Police Chiefs Council said that the goal of the use of force project was to “provide unprecedented transparency” to policing. “Forces are working to put in place procedures to collect the right information without being unduly bureaucratic,” they said.

The council said that forces were constantly working to develop the format to minimise the time officers spent on the task, adding that some forces had estimated that it took two to three minutes for their officers to complete the form.

The forms ask for full details of what happened when force was used, requiring information about where the incident happened, whether officers were threatened or assaulted and what sort of force, if any, they used.

Officers mark on a diagram the part of the person’s body where force was used. They are also expected to say whether the person was injured and if they were offered medical assistance.

Under the old system this level of detail was needed only if officers used stun guns and firearms but new rules extended it for a range of other uses of force.

In May 2011, May promised that her policies would “do away with the bureaucratic accountability of the past. So we will free the police to do their job”. She said: “I have said loud and clear that the days of the bureaucrats controlling and managing the police from Whitehall are over.”

The government defended the way in which data is collected on the use of force after the criticism. The Home Office said reforms had done away with a lot of bureaucracy, and the statistics would ensure transparency.

A spokeswoman said: “Our police reforms have overhauled the previous cumbersome regime of top-down targets and unnecessary bureaucracy.”