§ Baroness Howells of St Davidsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What the most recent statistics are for the police use of firearms. [HL5550]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorntonThe statistics for April 2000 to March 2001 show that the number of police operations in which firearms were issued was 11,109. The number of occasions on which firearms were discharged by police increased to nine.
There was a small decrease in the number of operations in which armed response vehicles were deployed.
50WAFull details are set out in the tables:
Number of Operations in which Firearms were Authorised 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Total 11,842 10,928 10,915 11,109 Avon & Somerset 139 88 90 65 Bedfordshire 323 260 190 294 Cambridgeshire 96 43 75 71 Cheshire 216 299 386 545 Cleveland 103 35 76 28 City of London 307 147 125 3 Cumbria 68 52 24 30 Derbyshire 147 176 178 167 Devon & Cornwall 133 61 65 151 Dorset 54 69 79 174 Durham 103 114 114 40 Essex 505 590 497 435 Gloucestershire 51 52 52 48 Greater Manchester 165 160 224 357 Hampshire 217 129 103 114 Hertfordshire 82 75 73 86 Humberside 472 317 193 158 Kent 423 92 85 83 Lancashire 338 616 267 242 Leicestershire 89 109 222 217 Lincolnshire 52 57 155 336 Merseyside 675 484 489 825 Metropolitan 2,578 2,742 2,862 1,862 Norfolk 128 185 239 226 Northamptonshire 77 51 57 58 Northumbria 823 683 465 708 North Yorkshire 102 69 61 72 Nottinghamshire 306 266 255 233 South Yorkshire 302 135 237 127 Staffordshire 240 209 174 203 Suffolk 193 174 165 176 Surrey 87 60 143 221 Sussex 330 123 185 353 Thames Valley 227 158 110 153 Warwickshire 152 291 194 233 West Mercia 132 130 110 36 West Midlands 227 305 362 485 West Yorkshire 630 662 813 822 Wiltshire 26 24 19 66 Dyfed Powys 27 38 37 18 Gwent 86 64 39 30 North Wales 310 386 371 195 South Wales 101 148 255 363
51WA
Number of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs) 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Total 6,585 6,308 6,262 6,064 Avon & Somerset 161 153 150 135 Bedfordshire 42 50 46 45 Cambridgeshire 80 80 77 73 Cheshire 82 70 75 74 Cleveland 84 78 80 75 City of London 81 55 73 74 Cumbria 122 98 98 94 Derbyshire 100 87 77 81 Devon & Cornwall 147 82 119 100 Dorset 72 72 66 67 Durham 144 96 101 101 Essex 217 235 228 195 Gloucesteshire 84 79 77 72 Greater Manchester 182 217 218 240 Hampshire 112 110 111 100 Hertfordshire 41 43 52 44 Humberside 102 102 97 102 Kent 150 130 136 136 Lancashire 125 132 143 132 Leicestershire 94 90 90 85 Lincolnshire 85 75 78 80 Merseyside 165 121 96 103 Metropolitan 1,971 1,951 1,977 1,940 Norfolk 102 109 110 114 Northamptonshire 92 92 75 77 Northumbria 126 123 114 109 North Yorkshire 95 83 59 66 Nottinghamshire 129 120 116 137 South Yorkshire 108 90 100 98
Number of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs) 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Staffordshire 86 92 81 67 Suffolk 96 101 98 90 Surrey 61 69 71 72 Sussex 146 156 131 118 Thames Valley 194 179 187 185 Warwickshire 38 44 54 45 West Mercia 159 139 129 130 West Midlands 95 92 93 83 West Yorkshire 114 128 110 117 Wiltshire 105 88 89 71 Dyfed Powys 71 67 65 61 Gwent 59 64 68 66 North Wales 90 97 92 67 South Wales 176 169 155 143
Number of Operations involving Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs) Annex C 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Total 7,544 7,791 8,276 8,179 Avon & Somerset 121 83 78 56 Bedfordshire 285 240 172 253 Cambridgeshire 19 27 54 36 Cheshire 166 247 330 441 Cleveland 57* 29 25 16 City of London 34 32 24 30 Cumbria 43 38 21 27 Derbyshire 99 153 167 152 Devon & Cornwall 58 43 52 121 Dorset 50 66 69 155 Durham 85 84 67 31 Essex 180 285 244 206 Gloucestershire 48 49 44 39 Greater Manchester 56 43 173 302 Hampshire 170 114 90 84 Hertfordshire 25 26 44 65 Humberside 437 277 181 136 Kent 212 74 58 64 Lancashire 321 596 250 177 Leicestershire 68 109 144 195 Lincolnshire 34 42 141 324 Merseyside 559 396 466 75 Metropolitan 954 1,573 1,812 1,380 Norfolk 117 167 210 192 Northamptonshire 29 32 21 35 Northumbria 515 503 397 655 North Yorkshire 52 30 40 54 Nottinghamshire 256* 246 232 207 South Yorkshire 252 115 214 103 Staffordshire 206 185 131 136 Suffolk 135 104 101 103 Surrey 76 46 110 192 Sussex 284 0* 172 245 Thames Valley 184 139 108 108 Warwickshire 127 220 158 194 West Mercia 98 99 98 26 West Midlands 102 129 138 243 West Yorkshire 586 630 787 785 Wiltshire 21 17 15 48 Dyfed Powys 19 30 37 18 Gwent 47 39 27 17 North Wales 260 298 354 155 South Wales 97 136 220 298 * these forces have changed the counting method for incidents to which ARVs are deployed