In a police building near Reading, a man sits on a bench, shouting and ranting while he waves a knife at officers. 

The two officers approach and ask him to drop the knife - which remains in his hand. 

What should the police do next? 

"Spray him," an onlooker suggests. 

Each officer removes from their tactical vests a can of irritant spray and begin to douse the man. He panics and puts the knife to his throat. 

"We can see that might not have been the best option," Aaron Carey, Physical Development Trainer, says. 

The scene is part of a behind-the-scenes look at a new form of training at Thames Valley Police's centre in Sulhamstead, which is focusing on the "use of the force" that officers can deploy in dangerous situations.

All officers are now required to undertake the two-day training scheme every year, where they enact dangerous scenarios commonly faced by officers, such as a disturbance in a house or a fight in the street. No two scenarios are the same, with a trainer changing the situation in the moment, so that officers have to make split-second decisions that would mean the difference between life and death in the outside world. 

It means the knives are plastic and the irritant spray cans are filled with water - but officers can and do suffer injuries as part of the training, as those involved do their best to make it as realistic as possible, with furniture being thrown at participants and officers doing their best to fight physical restraints. 

How Thames Valley Police officers use force is under more scrutiny "than ever before," according to Chief Constable Jason Hogg - and the police chief wants officers to be more confident when they do have to use physical force. 

Speaking to The Reading Chronicle, he said: "It's always been the case that officers have had to use force on occasions.

"But I think in the past, certainly when I was a younger officer, there wasn't the extent of the complaints and scrutiny and challenges over officers using their powers on the streets in the way we do now."

In July, an Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation found that two police had committed gross misconduct after they restrained a 24-year-old man in a hospital, with the man later dying due to "restraint combined with drug toxicity," according to a pathologist. 

The latest Home Office data shows between April 2022 and March 2023, Thames Valley Police recorded 28,332 incidents where forceful tactics were used, including handcuffs, batons, Tasters, and firearms. 

In the year from 2019 to 2020, the force recorded 16,674 similar incidents.

Now police are using their powers more and more, according to Chief Constable Hogg. 

He said: "In the past year we have been using our powers more. We have arrested more people in the last year, we are stopping and searching more people on the streets and charging more offences as well.

"I would suggested that's a good thing. I think the public are quiet rightly concerned not just about what the police do, but also how they do it."

As well as the new use of force training, members of the public can now volunteer to review body-cam footage of stop-and-search incidents.

The volunteers will be part of newly expanded public scrutiny panels, which can provide feedback to individual officers on how they dealt with specific incidents. 

The latest data from Thames Valley Police shows that officers have stopped and searched more than 7,800 members of the public so far this year - with more than 5,900 interactions ending in no further action. 

Anyone wishing to join the police scrutiny panels can find an application form on the Thames Valley Police website.