Lord Actonasked Her Majesty's Government:
When they will publish the statistics on police use of firearms in 2001–02 in England and Wales. [HL3343]
58WA
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonThe statistics for April 2001 to March 2002 show that the number of police operations in which firearms were issued was 13,991. The number of occasions on which firearms were discharged by police was 11.
Armed response vehicles were deployed on 11,572 occasions and there were 5,776 authorised firearms officers in England and Wales.
Full details are set out in the tables below:
Number of Operations in which Firearms were Authorised 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 Total 10,928 10,915 11,109 13,991 Avon & Somerset 88 90 65 195 Bedfordshire 260 190 294 237 Cambridgeshire 43 75 71 114 Cheshire 299 386 545 419 Cleveland 35 76 28 37 City of London 147 125 3 40 Cumbria 52 24 30 71 Derbyshire 176 178 167 275 Devon & Cornwall 61 65 151 101 Dorset 69 79 174 184 Durham 114 114 40 89 Essex 590 497 435 323 Gloucestershire 52 52 48 165 Greater Manchester 160 224 357 580 Hampshire 129 103 114 198 Hertfordshire 75 73 86 112 Humberside 317 193 158 297 Kent 92 85 83 115 Lancashire 616 267 242 232 Leicestershire 109 222 217 300 Lincolnshire 57 155 336 477 Merseyside 484 489 825 1,020 Metropolitan 2,742 2,862 1,862 2,447 Norfolk 185 239 226 175 Northamptonshire 51 57 58 43 Northumbria 683 465 708 1,440 North Yorkshire 69 61 72 92 Nottinghamshire 266 255 233 384 South Yorkshire 135 237 127 258 Staffordshire 209 174 203 232 Suffolk 174 165 176 163 Surrey 60 143 221 245 Sussex 123 185 353 248 Thames Valley 158 110 153 179 Warwickshire 291 194 233 130 West Mercia 130 110 36 117 West Midlands 305 362 485 822 West Yorkshire 662 813 822 757 Wiltshire 24 19 66 45 Dyfed Powys 38 37 18 28 Gwent 64 39 30 20 North Wales 386 371 195 302 South Wales 148 255 363 283 59WA
Number of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs) 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 Total 6,308 6,262 6,064 5,776 Avon & Somerset 153 150 135 116 Bedfordshire 50 46 45 48 Cambridgeshire 80 77 73 56 Cheshire 70 75 74 81 Cleveland 78 80 75 85 City of London 55 73 74 73
Number of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs) 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 Cumbria 98 98 94 92 Derbyshire 87 77 81 80 Devon & Cornwall 82 119 100 108 Dorset 72 66 67 57 Durham 96 101 101 86 Essex 235 228 195 180 Gloucestershire 79 77 72 71 Greater Manchester 217 218 240 219 Hampshire 110 111 100 87 Hertfordshire 43 52 44 46 Humberside 102 97 102 96 Kent 130 136 136 113 Lancashire 132 143 132 138 Leicestershire 90 90 85 69 Lincolnshire 75 78 80 91 Merseyside 121 96 103 78 Metropolitan 1,951 1,977 1,940 1,805 Norfolk 109 110 114 104 Northamptonshire 92 75 77 51 Northumbria 123 114 109 125 North Yorkshire 83 59 66 66 Nottinghamshire 120 116 137 136 South Yorkshire 90 100 98 92 Staffordshire 92 81 67 71 Suffolk 101 98 90 90 Surrey 69 71 72 62 Sussex 156 131 118 120 Thames Valley 179 187 185 156 Warwickshire 44 54 45 50 West Mercia 139 129 130 125 West Midlands 92 93 83 111 West Yorkshire 128 110 117 116 Wiltshire 88 89 71 71 Dyfed Powys 67 65 61 77 Gwent 64 68 66 57 North Wales 97 92 67 83 South Wales 169 155 143 138 60WA
Number of Operations involving Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs) 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 Total 7,791 8,276 8,179 11,574 Avon & Somerset 83 78 56 173 Bedfordshire 240 172 253 172 Cambridgeshire 27 54 36 43 Cheshire 247 330 441 523 Cleveland 29 25 16 13 City of London 32 24 30 39 Cumbria 38 21 27 53 Derbyshire 153 167 152 253 Devon & Cornwall 43 52 121 76 Dorset 66 69 155 182 Durham 84 67 31 57 Essex 285 244 206 165 Gloucestershire 49 44 39 140 Greater Manchester 43 173 302 528 Hampshire 114 90 84 116 Hertfordshire 26 44 65 81 Humberside 277 181 136 273 Kent 74 58 64 89 Lancashire 596 250 177 192 Leicestershire 109 144 195 292 Lincolnshire 42 141 324 470 Merseyside 396 466 75 974 Metropolitan 1,573 1,812 1,380 1,667 Norfolk 167 210 192 157 Northamptonshire 32 21 35 25 Northumbria 503 397 655 1,349
Number of Operations involving Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs) 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 North Yorkshire 30 40 54 60 Nottinghamshire 246 232 207 333 South Yorkshire 115 214 103 221 Staffordshire 185 131 136 208 Suffolk 104 101 103 116 Surrey 46 110 192 225 Sussex 01 172 245 189 Thames Valley 139 108 108 174 Warwickshire 220 158 194 104 West Mercia 99 98 26 100 West Midlands 129 138 243 563 West Yorkshire 630 787 785 609 Wiltshire 17 15 48 43 Dyfed Powys 30 37 18 28 Gwent 39 27 17 16 North Wales 298 354 155 265 South Wales 136 220 298 218 1these forces have changed the counting method for incidents to which ARVs are deployed.