§ Mr. GrahamTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Strathclyde as to the dates of incidents at which police were armed since 1985.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 26 April 1990]: I am advised by the chief constable that firearms were issued on 319 occasions over the last five years. If the hon. Member is concerned about any particular incident, he may care to write to the chief constable.
§ Mr. GrahamTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Strathclyde as to the number of officers by division trained in armed weapons and the number available in arty emergency;
(2) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Strathclyde as to how many officers can be armed at any one time.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 26 April 1990]: The number of officers trained in the use of firearms is an operational matter for the chief constable. Officers are issued with firearms only on specific occasions which are judged to require a firearms capability. The Department issued guidelines to the police in 1984 covering the circumstances when firearms may be issued, the authority for issue, training and record-keeping; a copy is in the Library.
455W
§ Mr. GrahamTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will call for a report from the Chief Constable of Strathclyde as to how many police officers are licensed and insured to drive police vehicles by division.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 26 April 1990]: I am advised by the Chief Constable that there are 5,296 officers in the Strathclyde force currently authorised to drive police vehicles. These officers are deployed throughout the 15 divisions and other specialist departments within the force on the basis of the Chief Constable's assessment of local needs.
§ Mr. GrahamTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will call for a report from the Chief Constable of Strathclyde as to the number of armoured vehicles held by his force and their locations.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 26 April 1990]: Strathclyde police do not possess any armoured vehicles.