§ Mr. CawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have been authorised to can-y firearms; for how many operations firearms have been issued; and how many operations involving armed response vehicles there have been in each of the last three years for which information is available. [35188]
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Mr. MichalThe information is as follows:
Annex B: Issue of police firearms Number of operations in which firearms were issued 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Avon and Somerset 156 326 312 Bedfordshire 36 264 345 Cambridgeshire 73 47 54 Cheshire 93 219 288 Cleveland 107 487 1,026 City of London 8 25 308 Cumbria 44 54 72 Derbyshire 68 72 109 Devon and Cornwall 29 90 160 Dorset 46 36 36 Durham 100 111 131 Essex 267 267 331 Gloucestershire 27 33 41 Greater Manchester 110 142 214 Hampshire 195 190 245 Hertfordshire 69 47 96 Humberside 49 92 291 Kent 95 82 236 Lancashire 57 227 333 Leicestershire 78 138 155 Lincolnshire 50 25 58 Merseyside 116 280 671 Metropolitan 1,804 2,178 2,439 Norfolk 56 96 166 Northamptonshire 40 54 64 Northumbria 593 452 1,360 North Yorkshire 25 52 65 Nottinghamshire 47 57 84 South Yorkshire 172 225 155 Staffordshire 21 80 257 Suffolk 119 150 180 Surrey 60 70 133 Sussex 375 445 235 Thames Valley 65 96 215 Warwickshire 25 55 97 West Mercia 50 59 106 West Midlands 141 226 270 West Yorkshire 181 657 617 Wiltshire 26 26 26 Dyfed Powys 16 11 17 Gwent 20 47 89 North Wales 60 117 233 South Wales 55 69 59 Total 5,824 8,476 12,379
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Annex D: Number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs) 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Avon and Somerset 156 157 165 Bedfordshire 67 48 46 Cambridgeshire 87 92 90 Cheshire 122 84 70 Cleveland 55 65 86 City of London 146 120 88 Cumbria 105 100 108 Derbyshire 140 130 110 Devon and Cornwall 116 140 151 Dorset 76 75 74 Durham 108 103 138 Essex 209 203 228 Gloucestershire 71 85 82 Greater Manchester 181 186 209 Hampshire 110 104 106 Hertfordshire 48 43 42 Humberside 110 104 90
Annex D: Number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs) 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Kent 147 144 150 Lancashire 135 138 132 Leicestershire 103 105 104 Lincolnshire 73 81 82 Merseyside 160 119 147 Metropolitan 2,013 1,915 2,035 Norfolk 117 99 98 Northamptonshire 83 95 92 Northumbria 166 160 173 North Yorkshire 142 134 108 Nottinghamshire 125 126 128 South Yorkshire 162 125 110 Staffordshire 84 80 78 Suffolk 65 70 82 Surrey 76 79 76 Sussex 142 149 180 Thames Valley 180 175 185 Warwickshire 56 50 41 West Mercia 160 153 155 West Midlands 87 87 88 West Yorkshire 156 150 131 Wiltshire 165 145 134 Dyfed Powys 58 57 70 Gwent 54 55 70 North Wales 71 70 72 South Wales 150 154 134 Total 6,837 6,554 6,738
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Annex E: Number of operations involving armed response vehicles (ARVs) 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Avon and Somerset 90 200 247 Bedfordshire 0 239 309 Cambridgeshire 27 15 23 Cheshire 76 180 240 Cleveland 89 465 1,014 City of London 0 23 25 Cumbria 19 44 64 Derbyshire 58 53 97 Devon and Cornwall 0 21 0 Dorset 25 22 28 Durham 27 38 62 Essex 165 155 218 Gloucestershire 0 10 13 Greater Manchester 69 6 0 Hampshire 156 159 0 Hertfordshire 37 20 35 Humberside 6 35 284 Kent 47 42 208 Lancashire 48 187 320 Leicestershire 50 101 126 Lincolnshire 45 21 0 Merseyside 73 239 0 Metropolitan n/k 1,025 790 Norfolk 36 80 152 Northamptonshire 21 3 20 Northumbria 310 325 715 North Yorkshire 0 0 13 Nottinghamshire 40 44 66 South Yorkshire 140 171 129 Staffordshire 3 70 235 Suffolk 113 117 120 Surrey 25 47 52 Sussex 304 413 173 Thames Valley 6 73 164 Warwickshire 22 54 91 West Mercia 26 39 77 West Midlands 58 98 103 West Yorkshire 173 587 584
Annex E: Number of operations involving armed response vehicles (ARVs) 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Wiltshire 13 1 23 Dyfed Powys 9 6 12 Gwent 9 39 58 North Wales 0 14 173 South Wales 8 42 55
§ Mr. CawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many operations firearms were issued to police officers in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years for which information is available; in how many operations shots were fired by police officers in each year; how many police officers were qualified to carry firearms; and if he will make a statement. [35189]
§ Mr. MichaelThis information is as follows:
Year Number of authorised firearms officers Number of operations Number of operations in which shots fired by the police 1987 7,349 2,185 7 1988 7,194 2,227 2 1989 7,311 2,583 4 1990 7,411 2,874 3 1991 7,717 3,722 5 1992 6,850 4,479 12 1993 6,769 5,625 6 1 April 1994 to 31 March 1995 6,837 5,824 5 1 April 1995 to 31 March 1996 6,554 8,476 5 1 April 1996 to 31 March 1997 6,738 12,379 5 Reasons for the increases in number of policy firearms operations will vary between forces, and they are best placed to answer specific inquiries. Although the number of authorised firearms officers has dropped over the years, police forces are now much better equipped to deal with armed crime, thanks to armed response vehicles and updated practices. Police firearms have only been fired in five operations in each of the last three years. This very low number confirms that police firearms officers generally carry out their duties with professionalism and restraint.