All, 

You may be aware of an incident that occurred yesterday afternoon near Templar Avenue in Baldock, as there is an ongoing police investigation into the matter I am not going into detail about the specifics of the incident, however we are aware of some social media speculation following the incident. 

I can confirm three persons were arrested for public order offences and for assaulting police officers, there were no injuries reported to any officers or to any of the arrested persons and although incapacitant spray, commonly known as PAVA, was utilised by police during the incident there were no Taser devices fired at any person(s). 

PAVA is considered a lower level use of force with little to no risk of long term effects and is often a preferred technique prior to physical restraint or strikes being considered as the effects are only temporarily usually lasting on average about 30-45 minutes per exposure, whereas physical strikes are higher risk and can result in bruising, cuts and in some cases fractures. 

In incidents such as these I would to remind passers-by to follow police instructions and stay clear of emergency personnel, if you feel that police officers are acting unfairly, the correct time to raise these concerns is not to the officers already dealing with the incident but via our website or by calling 101 as there is a correct complaints process to follow.