HC Deb 12 April 2000 vol 348 cc223-6W
Mr. Hope

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the most recent statistics available for the police use of firearms. [119125]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The statistics for April 1998 to March 1999 show that the number of police operations in which firearms were issued to officers was 10,928, a fall of over 7 per cent. on the previous year. The number of firearms incidents in which firearms were discharged by police was five, compared to three the previous year. There were no fatalities.

There was an increase of 3 per cent. to 7,791 in the number of operations in which armed response vehicles were deployed. Firearms were carried in these vehicles, but were not necessarily issued to officers on each occasion.

Full details are set out in the tables.

Number of operations in which firearms were issued
1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
Total 8,726 12,379 11,842 10,928
Avon and Somerset 326 312 139 88
Bedfordshire 264 345 323 260
Cambridgeshire 47 54 96 43
Cheshire 219 288 216 299
Cleveland 487 1,026 103 35
City of London 275 308 307 147
Cumbria 54 72 68 52
Derbyshire 72 109 147 176
Devon and Cornwall 90 160 133 61
Dorset 36 36 54 69
Durham 111 131 103 114
Essex 267 331 505 590
Gloucestershire 33 41 51 52
Greater Manchester 142 214 165 160
Hampshire 190 245 217 129
Hertfordshire 47 96 82 75
Humberside 92 291 472 317
Kent 82 236 423 92
Lancashire 227 333 338 616
Leicestershire 138 155 89 109
Lincolnshire 25 58 52 57
Merseyside 280 671 675 484
Metropolitan 2,178 2,439 2,578 2,742
Norfolk 96 166 128 185
Northamptonshire 54 64 77 51
Northumbria 452 1,360 823 683
North Yorkshire 52 65 102 69
Nottinghamshire 57 84 306 266
South Yorkshire 225 155 302 135
Staffordshire 80 257 240 209
Suffolk 150 180 193 174
Surrey 70 133 87 60
Sussex 445 235 330 123
Thames Valley 96 215 227 158
Warwickshire 55 97 152 291
West Mercia 59 106 132 130
West Midlands 226 270 227 305
West Yorkshire 657 617 630 662
Wiltshire 26 26 26 24
Dyfed Powys 11 17 27 38
Gwent 47 89 86 64
North Wales 117 233 310 386
South Wales 69 59 101 148

Number of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs)
1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
Total 6,554 6,738 6,585 6,308
Avon and Somerset 157 165 161 153
Bedfordshire 48 46 42 50
Cambridgeshire 92 90 80 80
Cheshire 84 70 82 70
Cleveland 65 86 84 78
City of London 120 88 81 55
Cumbria 100 108 122 98
Derbyshire 130 110 100 87
Devon and Cornwall 140 151 147 82
Dorset 75 74 72 72
Durham 103 138 144 96
Essex 203 228 217 235
Gloucestershire 85 82 84 79
Greater Manchester 186 209 182 217
Hampshire 104 106 112 110
Hertfordshire 43 42 41 43
Humberside 104 90 102 102
Kent 144 150 150 130
Number of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs)
1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
Lancashire 138 132 125 132
Leicestershire 105 104 94 90
Lincolnshire 81 82 85 75
Merseyside 119 147 165 121
Metropolitan 1,915 2,035 1,971 1,951
Norfolk 99 98 102 109
Northamptonshire 95 92 92 92
Northumbria 160 173 126 123
North Yorkshire 134 108 95 83
Nottinghamshire 126 128 129 120
South Yorkshire 125 110 108 90
Staffordshire 80 78 86 92
Suffolk 70 82 96 101
Surrey 79 76 61 69
Sussex 149 180 146 156
Thames Valley 175 185 194 179
Warwickshire 50 41 38 44
West Mercia 153 155 159 139
West Midlands 87 88 95 92
West Yorkshire 150 131 114 128
Wiltshire 145 134 105 88
Dyfed Powys 57 70 71 67
Gwent 55 70 59 64
North Wales 70 72 90 97
South Wales 154 134 176 169

Number of operations involving Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs)
1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
Total 5,523 8,060 7,544 7,791
Avon and Somerset 200 247 121 83
Bedfordshire 239 309 285 240
Cambridgeshire 15 23 19 27
Cheshire 180 240 166 247
Cleveland 465 1,014 571 29
City of London 23 25 34 32
Cumbria 44 64 43 38
Derbyshire 53 97 99 153
Devon and Cornwall 21 77 58 43
Dorset 22 28 50 66
Durham 38 62 85 84
Essex 155 218 180 285
Gloucestershire 10 13 48 49
Greater Manchester 6 2— 56 43
Hampshire 159 208 170 114
Hertfordshire 20 35 25 26
Humberside 35 284 437 277
Kent 42 208 212 74
Lancashire 187 320 321 596
Leicestershire 101 126 68 109
Lincolnshire 21 39 34 42
Merseyside 239 618 559 396
Metropolitan 1,025 790 954 1,573
Norfolk 80 152 117 167
Northamptonshire 3 20 29 32
Northumbria 325 715 515 503
North Yorkshire 0 13 52 30
Nottinghamshire 44 66 1256 246
South Yorkshire 171 129 252 115
Staffordshire 70 235 206 185
Suffolk 117 120 135 104
Surrey 47 52 76 46
Sussex 413 173 284 10
Thames Valley 73 164 184 139
Warwickshire 54 91 127 220
West Mercia 39 77 98 99
West Midlands 98 103 102 129
West Yorkshire 587 584 586 630
Wiltshire 1 23 21 17
Number of operations involving Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs)
1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99
Dyfed Powys 6 12 19 30
Gwent 39 58 47 39
North Wales 14 173 260 298
South Wales 42 55 97 136
1 These forces have changed the counting method for incidents to which ARVs are deployed
2 No figures available