HC Deb 11 February 2004 vol 417 cc69-72W
The Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety(Ms Hazel Blears)

The statistics for 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 show that the number of police operations in which firearms were issued was 14,827. The number of occasions on which conventional firearms were discharged by police was 37, which covered 10 incidents. There were also four occasions where a baton round was used as a less lethal alternative to a conventional firearm.

Armed response vehicles were deployed on 11,818 occasions and there were 5,763 authorised firearms officers in England and Wales.

Full details are set out in the tables below:

Number of operations in which firearms were authorised
1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
TOTAL 10,915 11,109 13,991 14,827
AVON & SOMERSET 90 65 195 262
BEDFORDSHIRE 190 294 237 301
CAMBRIDGESHIRE 75 71 114 57
CHESHIRE 386 545 419 451
CLEVELAND 76 28 37 170
CITY OF LONDON 125 3 40 131
CUMBRIA 24 30 71 77
DERBYSHIRE 178 167 275 401
DEVON &CORNWALL 65 151 101 96
DORSET 79 174 184 193
DURHAM 114 40 89 83
ESSEX 497 435 323 312
GLOUCESTERSHIRE 52 48 165 185
GTR MANCHESTER 224 357 580 518
HAMPSHIRE 103 114 198 162
HERTFORDSHIRE 73 86 112 172
HUMBERSIDE 193 158 297 187
KENT 85 83 115 137
LANCASHIRE 267 242 232 238
LEICESTERSHIRE 222 217 300 268
LINCOLNSHIRE 155 336 477 392
MERSEYSIDE 489 825 1,020 628
METROPOLITAN 2,862 1,862 2,447 3,199
NORFOLK 239 226 175 200
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 57 58 43 138
NORTHUMBRIA 465 708 1,440 1,275
NORTH YORKSHIRE 61 72 92 100
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 255 233 384 452
SOUTH YORKSHIRE 237 127 258 463
STAFFORDSHIRE 174 203 232 281
SUFFOLK 165 176 163 270
SURREY 143 221 245 247
SUSSEX 185 353 248 204
THAMES VALLEY 110 153 179 167
WARWICKSHIRE 194 233 130 149
WEST MERCIA 110 36 117 91
WEST MIDLANDS 362 485 822 902
WEST YORKSHIRE 813 822 757 604
WILTSHIRE 19 66 45 58
DYFED POWYS 37 18 28 29
GWENT 39 30 20 37
NORTH WALES 371 195 302 259
SOUTH WALES 255 363 283 281
Number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs)
1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
TOTAL 6,262 6,064 5,776 5,763
AVON&SOMERSET 150 135 116 84
BEDFORDSHIRE 46 45 48 53
CAMBRIDGESHIRE 77 73 56 71
Number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs)
1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
CHESHIRE 75 74 81 89
CLEVELAND 80 75 85 80
CITY OF LONDON 73 74 73 72
CUMBRIA 98 94 92 87
DERBYSHIRE 77 81 80 69
DEVON & CORNWALL 119 100 108 115
DORSET 66 67 57 59
DURHAM 101 101 86 102
ESSEX 228 195 180 184
GLOUCESTERSHIRE 77 72 71 80
GTR MANCHESTER 218 240 219 202
HAMPSHIRE 111 100 87 94
HERTFORDSHIRE 52 44 46 47
HUMBERSIDE 97 102 96 96
KENT 136 136 113 93
LANCASHIRE 143 132 138 129
LEICESTERSHIRE 90 85 69 68
LINCOLNSHIRE 78 80 91 87
MERSEYSIDE 96 103 78 84
METROPOLITAN 1,977 1,940 1,805 1,823
NORFOLK 110 114 104 109
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 75 77 51 56
NORTHUMBRIA 114 109 125 99
NORTH YORKSHIRE 59 66 66 64
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 116 137 136 131
SOUTH YORKSHIRE 100 98 92 100
STAFFORDSHIRE 81 67 71 63
SUFFOLK 98 90 90 80
SURREY 71 72 62 48
SUSSEX 131 118 120 141
THAMES VALLEY 187 185 156 180
WARWICKSHIRE 54 45 50 51
WEST MERCIA 129 130 125 131
WEST MIDLANDS 93 83 111 110
WEST YORKSHIRE 110 117 116 132
WILTSHIRE 89 71 71 78
DYFED POWYS 65 61 77 62
GWENT 68 66 57 60
NORTH WALES 92 67 83 75
SOUTH WALES 155 143 138 125
Number of operations involving armed response vehicles (ARVs)
1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
TOTAL 8,276 8,179 11,574 11,818
AVON & SOMERSET 78 56 173 215
BEDFORDSHIRE 172 253 172 269
CAMBRIDGESHIRE 54 36 43 45
CHESHIRE 330 441 523 337
CLEVELAND 25 16 13 63
CITY OF LONDON 24 30 39 131
CUMBRIA 21 27 53 45
DERBYSHIRE 167 152 253 363
DEVON & CORNWALL 52 121 76 32
DORSET 69 155 182 180
DURHAM 67 31 57 66
ESSEX 244 206 165 176
GLOUCESTERSHIRE 44 39 140 166
GTR MANCHESTER 173 302 528 406
HAMPSHIRE 90 84 116 108
HERTFORDSHIRE 44 65 81 129
HUMBERSIDE 181 136 273 170
KENT 58 64 89 132
LANCASHIRE 250 177 192 185
LEICESTERSHIRE 144 195 292 232
LINCOLNSHIRE 141 324 470 367
MERSEYSIDE 466 75 974 547
METROPOLITAN 1,812 1,380 1,667 2,447
NORFOLK 210 192 157 186
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 21 35 25 90
NORTHUMBRIA 397 655 1,349 1,204
NORTH YORKSHIRE 40 54 60 67
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 232 207 333 397
SOUTH YORKSHIRE 214 103 221 280
STAFFORDSHIRE 131 136 208 241
SUFFOLK 101 103 116 160
SURREY 110 192 225 240
SUSSEX 172 245 189 111
THAMES VALLEY 108 108 174 167
WARWICKSHIRE 158 194 104 31
WEST MERCIA 98 26 100 81
WEST MIDLANDS 138 243 563 592
WEST YORKSHIRE 787 785 609 565
WILTSHIRE 15 48 43 39
DYFED POWYS 37 18 28 29
GWENT 27 17 16 16
NORTH WALES 354 155 265 198
SOUTH WALES 220 298 218 253