A SWAT team practiced at Palm Desert High School in July 2011 in this file photo (Richard Lui, The Desert Sun).

The Desert Sun ran a nearly four-page special investigation Sunday examining Coachella Valley police use of force:

Story: Coachella Valley use-of-force reports drop, but four deadly shootings ties record

Graphic: A closer look at use-of-force reports

Valley police shot seven people in confrontations in 2012, four of them deadly.

So far this year, valley police have shot two people. Palm Springs police shot a man Jan. 9 after they say he ran into three officers with a car. Three Indio police officers shot a man late Monday.

Nationwide, officers used force in 3.6 out of every 10,000 calls over a two-year period, according to the last-known comprehensive national study, published by the International Association of Chiefs of Police in 2001.

Here’s how your police department ranks for use of force — batons, dog bites, pepper spray, physical force, shootings, Tasers — according to The Desert Sun’s analysis of their data:

2012

• Palm Springs: 28 uses of force (4.36 times per 10,000 calls)
• Indio: 21 uses of force (3.23 times per 10,000 calls)
• Desert Hot Springs: 10 uses of force (2.87 times per 10,000 calls)
• Cathedral City: 3 uses of force (0.68 times per 10,000 calls)

2011

• Indio: 31 uses of force (4.39 times per 10,000 calls)
• Palm Springs: 22 uses of force (3.44 times per 10,000 calls)
• Cathedral City: 9 uses of force (1.95 times per 10,000 calls)
• Desert Hot Springs: 6 uses of force (1.67 times per 10,000 calls)

2010

• Indio: 35 uses of force (4.97 times per 10,000 calls)
• Palm Springs: 28 uses of force (3.9 times per 10,000 calls)
• Desert Hot Springs: 7 uses of force (1.72 times per 10,000 calls)
• Cathedral City: 8 uses of force (1.57 times per 10,000 calls)

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department — which oversees police services in Coachella, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage — could not provide comparable data.

After repeated requests, it gave The Desert Sun its data on shootings and dog bites, as well as stun gun use for January through August 2012 only.

The sheriff’s department does not track its deputies’ other force, including baton usage, pepper spray or physical force.