§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by individual police force in the United Kingdom, how many officers are authorized176W to carry firearms on routine patrols while (a) on foot, (b) in a patrol vehicle, (c) horse mounted, (d) in the air and (e) on other patrol.
§ Mr. Peter LloydDetails of the number of authorised firearms police officers in England and Wales on 31 December 1989—the latest date for which information is readily available—is contained in the table.
Numbers of authorised firearms officers by force area as at 31 December 1989 Number Avon and Somerset 110 Bedfordshire 37 Cambridgeshire 45 Cheshire 95 Cleveland 66 City of London 101 Cumbria 125 Derbyshire 98 Devon and Cornwall 141 Dorset 68 Durham 84 Essex 155 Gloucestershire 66 Greater Manchester 194 Hampshire 126 Hertfordshire 91 Humberside 92 Kent 193 Lancashire 191 Leicestershire 100 Lincolnshire 86 Merseyside 135 Metropolitan 2,552 Norfolk 110 Northamptonshire 70 Northumbria 159 North Yorkshire 183 Nottinghamshire 126 South Yorkshire 153 Staffordshire 55 Suffolk 100 Surrey 65 Sussex 198 Thames Valley 264 Warwickshire 55 West Mercia 103 West Midlands 140 West Yorkshire 185 Wiltshire 96 Dyfed Powys 46 Gwent 40 North Wales 67 South Wales 145 Total England and Wales 7,311 The issue of a firearm to an authorised firearms officer requires the further authority of a senior officer. This is given only where there is reason to suppose that the officer may have to face a person who is armed or otherwise so dangerous that he could not safely be restrained without the use of firearms; or for the destruction of dangerous animals.