HC Deb 12 June 2003 vol 406 cc55-7WS
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Bob Ainsworth)

The statistics for April 2001 to March 2002 show that the number of police operations in which firearms were issued was 13,991. The number of occasions on which firearms were discharged by police was 11.

Armed response vehicles were deployed on 11,572 occasions and there were 5,776 authorised firearms officers in England and Wales.

Full details are set out in the tables below:

Number of Operations in which Firearms were authorised
1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02
Total 10,928 10,915 11,109 13,991
Avon & Somerset 88 90 65 195
Bedfordshire 260 190 294 237
Cambridgeshire 43 75 71 114
Cheshire 299 386 545 419
Cleveland 35 76 28 37
City of London 147 125 3 40
Cumbria 52 24 30 71
Derbyshire 176 178 167 275
Devon & Cornwall 61 65 151 101
Dorset 69 79 174 184
Durham 114 114 40 89
Essex 590 497 435 323
Gloucestershire 52 52 48 165
Gtr Manchester 160 224 357 580
Hampshire 129 103 114 198
Hertfordshire 75 73 86 112
Humberside 317 193 158 297
Kent 92 85 83 115
Lancashire 616 267 242 232
Leicestershire 109 222 217 300
Lincolnshire 57 155 336 477
Merseyside 484 489 825 1,020
Metropolitan 2,742 2,862 1,862 2,447
Norfolk 185 239 226 175
Northamptonshire 51 57 58 43
Northumbria 683 465 708 1,440
North Yorkshire 69 61 72 92
Nottinghamshire 266 255 233 384
South Yorkshire 135 237 127 258
Staffordshire 209 174 203 232
Suffolk 174 165 176 163
Surrey 60 143 221 245
Sussex 123 185 353 248
Thames Valley 158 110 153 179
Warwickshire 291 194 233 130
West Mercia 130 110 36 117
West Midlands 305 362 485 822
West Yorkshire 662 813 822 757
Wiltshire 24 19 66 45
Dyfed Powys 38 37 18 28
Gwent 64 39 30 20
North Wales 386 371 195 302
South Wales 148 255 363 283
Number of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs)
1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02
Total 6,308 6,262 6,064 5,776
Avon & Somerset 153 150 135 116
Bedfordshire 50 46 45 48
Cambridgeshire 80 77 73 56
Cheshire 70 75 74 81
Cleveland 78 80 75 85
City of London 55 73 74 73
Cumbria 98 98 94 92
Derbyshire 87 77 81 80
Devon & Cornwall 82 119 100 108
Dorset 72 66 67 57
Durham 96 101 101 86
Essex 235 228 195 180
Gloucestershire 79 77 72 71
Gtr Manchester 217 218 240 219
Hampshire 110 111 100 87
Hertfordshire 43 52 44 46
Humberside 102 97 102 96
Kent 130 136 136 113
Lancashire 132 143 132 138
Leicestershire 90 90 85 69
Lincolnshire 75 78 80 91
Merseyside 121 96 103 78
Metropolitan 1,951 1,977 1,940 1,805
Norfolk 109 110 114 104
Northamptonshire 92 75 77 51
Northumbria 123 114 109 125
North Yorkshire 83 59 66 66
Nottinghamshire 120 116 137 136
South Yorkshire 90 100 98 92
Staffordshire 92 81 67 71
Suffolk 101 98 90 90
Surrey 69 71 72 62
Sussex 156 131 118 120
Thames Valley 179 187 185 156
Warwickshire 44 54 45 50
West Mercia 139 129 130 125
West Midlands 92 93 83 111
West Yorkshire 128 110 117 116
Wiltshire 88 89 71 71
Dyfed Powys 67 65 61 77
Gwent 64 68 66 57
North Wales 97 92 67 83
South Wales 169 155 143 138
Number of Operations involving Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs)
1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02
Total 7,791 8,276 8,179 11,574
Avon & Somerset 83 78 56 173
Bedfordshire 240 172 253 172
Cambridgeshire 27 54 36 43
Cheshire 247 330 441 523
Cleveland 29 25 16 13
City of London 32 24 30 39
Cumbria 38 21 27 53
Derbyshire 153 167 152 253
Devon & Cornwall 43 52 121 76
Dorset 66 69 155 182
Durham 84 67 31 57
Essex 285 244 206 165
Gloucestershire 49 44 39 140
Gtr Manchester 43 173 302 528
Hampshire 114 90 84 116
Hertfordshire 26 44 65 81
Humberside 277 181 136 273
Kent 74 58 64 89
Lancashire 596 250 177 192
Leicestershire 109 144 195 292
Lincolnshire 42 141 324 470
Merseyside 396 466 75 974
Metropolitan 1,573 1,812 1,380 1,667
Norfolk 167 210 192 157
Northamptonshire 32 21 35 25
Northumbria 503 397 655 1349
North Yorkshire 30 40 54 60
Nottinghamshire 246 232 207 333
South Yorkshire 115 214 103 221
Staffordshire 185 131 136 208
Number of Operations involving Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs)
1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02
Suffolk 104 101 103 116
Surrey 46 110 192 225
Sussex 0* 172 245 189
Thames Valley 139 108 108 174
Warwickshire 220 158 194 104
West Mercia 99 98 26 100
West Midlands 129 138 243 563
West Yorkshire 630 787 785 609
Wiltshire 17 15 48 43
Dyfed Powys 30 37 18 28
Gwent 39 27 17 16
North Wales 298 354 155 265
South Wales 136 220 298 218
* these forces have changed the counting method for incidents to which ARVs are deployed.

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