§ Mr. Woolmerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of west Yorkshire as to the number of occasions on which firearms were issued to police officers in west Yorkshire, for purposes other than training and practice, in each of the past five years; and on how many occasions in each of these years shots were fired by those officers in the course of those duties.
§ Mr. MayhewIn the five years from 1977 to 1981, firearms were issued on 216, 179, 236, 277 and 219 occasions, respectively. Figures for 1982 are not yet available. Shots were fired on only one occasion, in 1980. These figures exclude those occasions on which firearms were issued for the destruction of animals.
§ Mr. Woolmerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of west Yorkshire as to the number of police officers in the west Yorkshire force who are trained in firearms and eligible for authorisation with firearms; and what percentage of that police force was so trained and eligible as at an appropriate date in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. MayhewI understand that at present 465 officers of the west Yorkshire constabulary, out of a total force strength of 5,154, have been trained in the use of firearms and are authorised to carry them should the necessity arise. This is about 9 per cent. Comparable figures for the past five years are not available.
§ Mr. Woolmerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many handguns and other firearms are held by each of the police forces in England and Wales; on how many occasions the issue of those firearms was authorised other than for practice or training purposes in the latest available year for each police force; on how many occasions the firearms were used in each case; and how many injuries were caused as a consequence.
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§ Mr. MayhewFigures are not held centrally of the number of handguns and other firearms held by each police force. The number of occasions on which firearms were issued to police officers and the number of occasions on which shots were fired, other than for practice or training purposes, during 1981, is as follows:
Police force Occasions firearms issued Occasions on which shots fired Avon and Somerset 150 — Bedfordshire 228 — Cambridgeshire 25 — Cheshire 43 — Cleveland 9 — City of London 535 — Cumbria 407 — Derbyshire 26 — Devon and Cornwall 55 *2 Dorset 61 — Durham 33 — Essex 80 *1 Gloucestershire 118 — Greater Manchester 1,427 *1 Hampshire 122 *1 Hertfordshire 63 *1 Humberside 87 — Kent 132 — Lancashire 64 *6 Leicester 92 — Lincolnshire 24 *4 Merseyside 186 1 Metropolitan †4,983 2 Norfolk 39 *2 Northamptonshire 542 — Northumbria 59 *2 North Yorkshire 62 *1 Nottinghamshire 34 *1 South Yorkshire 107 *5 Staffordshire 30 *1 Suffolk 53 *2 Surrey 260 — Sussex 171 *1 Thames Valley 323 — Warwickshire 28 — West Mercia 111 *1 West Midlands 130 — West Yorkshire 219 — Wiltshire 87 *3 Dyfed Powys 11 — Gwent 5 — North Wales 28 — South Wales 237 *1 TOTAL 11,486 39 * occasions on which firearms were used soley for the destruction of animals. † excludes occasions on which firearms were issued for protection purposes. There was an incident in 1981 in which personal injuries were sustained as a result of the use by the Merseyside police of CS cartridges during an incident of serious public disorder. Otherwise, no person suffered injury during 1981 as a result of police use of firearms.
§ Mr. Woolmerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to his statement in the House on 17 January, Official Report, c. 126, if chief constables in England and Wales are obliged to put before their police authorities the rules governing the issue of firearms to and their use by police officers; if the police authorities have a right to insist upon the submission of such rules to them; and if the police authorities have the right to change such rules.
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§ Mr. WhitelawMy response on this point was about the Metropolitan police, and I am sorry if this has led to misunderstanding. The general orders for the Metropolitan police are subject to my approval as police authority to the extent required by section 5 of the Metropolitan Police Act 1829. There is no similar requirement for forces established under the Police Act 1964. Force orders are made by the chief constable. A police authority can, of course, call for a report on the policy followed by the chief constable and discuss it with him, but decisions on the issue and the use of firearms are for the chief constable.