TheyWorkForYou

Menu

Firearms (Police Use)

Home Department written statement – made on 8th March 2007.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Tony McNulty Tony McNulty Minister of State, Home Office

The statistics for 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006 show that the number of police operations in which firearms were authorised was 18,891.

The police discharged a conventional firearm in nine incidents. In addition, the Police discharged baton rounds or AEP in 14 incidents and fired Taser in 89 incidents.

Armed response vehicles were deployed on 14,355 occasions and there were 6,584 authorised firearms officers in England and Wales.

Full details are set out in the following tables:

Number of operations in which firearms were authorised
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
Total 13,991 14,827 16,657 15,981 18,891
Avon and Somerset 195 262 311 333 247
Bedfordshire 237 301 442 475 575
Cambridgeshire 114 57 104 241 201
Cheshire 419 451 397 358 367
Cleveland 37 170 453 530 657
City of London 40 131 364 404 323
Cumbria 71 77 72 152 112
Derbyshire 275 401 369 287 305
Devon and Cornwall 101 96 112 71 84
Dorset 184 193 231 223 263
Durham 89 83 156 144 291
Essex 323 312 275 296 432
Gloucestershire 165 185 127 176 229
Greater Manchester 580 518 507 461 478
Hampshire 198 162 208 237 289
Hertfordshire 112 172 195 185 187
Humberside 297 187 183 206 362
Kent 115 137 207 163 219
Lancashire 232 238 318 241 240
Leicestershire 300 268 295 260 363
Lincolnshire 477 392 386 294 220
Merseyside 1,020 628 751 733 669
Metropolitan 2,447 3,199 3,563 2,964 4,711
Norfolk 175 200 178 195 175
Northamptonshire 43 138 148 158 137
Northumbria 1,440 1,275 1,140 977 611
North Yorkshire 92 100 147 185 183
Nottinghamshire 384 452 459 408 394
South Yorkshire 258 463 484 546 749
Staffordshire 232 281 255 216 171
Suffolk 163 270 251 153 202
Surrey 245 247' 203 151 222
Sussex 248 204 280 187 190
Thames Valley 179 167 195 289 427
Warwickshire 130 149 164 124 180
West Mercia 117 91 197 162 122
West Midlands 822 902 1,377 1,264 1,044
West Yorkshire 757 604 575 853 1,335
Wiltshire 45 58 63 88 139
Dyfed Powys 28 29 28 51 63
Gwent 20 37 40 81 94
North Wales 302 259 197 223 350
South Wales 283 281 250 236 279
Number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs)
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
Total 5,776 5,763 6,96 6,243 6,584
Avon and Somerset 116 84 122 118 117
Bedfordshire 48 53 58 56 59
Cambridgeshire 56 71 60 60 50
Cheshire 81 89 75 76 73
Cleveland 85 80 95 100 100
City of London 73 72 86 89 86
Cumbria 92 87 89 90 89
Derbyshire 80 69 70 74 75
Devon and Cornwall 108 115 132 123 122
Dorset 57 59 60 64 62
Durham 86 102 97 103 100
Essex 180 184 186 202 205
Gloucestershire 71 80 82 93 92
Greater Manchester 219 202 205 187 245
Hampshire 87 94 94 92 97
Hertfordshire 46 47 50 53 52
Humberside 96 96 96 101 92
Kent 113 93 90 94 94
Lancashire 138 129 122 115 123
Leicestershire 69 68 51 53 59
Lincolnshire 91 87 78 86 87
Merseyside 78 84 94 93 129
Metropolitan 1,805 1,823 2,060 2,134 2,331
Norfolk 104 109 114 125 119
Northamptonshire 51 56 52 50 56
Northumbria 125 99 90 93 98
North Yorkshire 66 64 60 56 78
Nottinghamshire 136 131 138 138 149
South Yorkshire 92 100 98 122 116
Staffordshire 71 63 67 76 70
Suffolk 90 80 96 88 84
Surrey 62 48 53 49 51
Sussex 120 141 134 130 129
Thames Valley 156 180 172 176 180
Warwickshire 50 51 46 53 55
West Mercia 125 131 139 141 152
West Midlands 111 110 124 134 145
West Yorkshire 116 132 140 130 150
Wiltshire 71 78 80 74 72
Dyfed Powys 77 62 58 79 68
Gwent 57 60 71 74 86
North Wales 83 75 73 65 57
South Wales 138 125 139 134 130
Number of operations involving armed response vehicles (ARVs)
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
Total 11,574 11,848 13,218 13,137 14,355
Avon and Somerset 173 215 249 312 167
Bedfordshire 172 269 414 419 534
Cambridgeshire 43 45 155 172 160
Cheshire 523 337 356 773 807
Cleveland 13 63 86 154 285
City of London 39 131 364 275 234
Cumbria 53 45 65 134 90
Derbyshire 253 363 312 254 257
Devon and Cornwall 76 32 94 54 54
Dorset 182 180 215 195 246
Durham 57 66 96 91 256
Essex 165 176 138 138 155
Gloucestershire 140 166 109 121 145
Greater Manchester 528 406 440 364 306
Hampshire 116 108 128 167 178
Hertfordshire 81 129 157 155 160
Humberside 273 170 158 184 335
Kent 89 132 193 124 183
Lancashire 192 185 273 228 232
Leicestershire 292 232 269 232 328
Lincolnshire 470 367 355 276 210
Merseyside 974 547 687 677 611
Metropolitan 1,667 2,447 2,423 2,322 2,572
Norfolk 157 186 169 163 149
Northamptonshire 25 90 99 89 101
Northumbria 1,49 1,04 1,063 893 585
North Yorkshire 60 67 110 144 208
Nottinghamshire 333 397 404 336 342
South Yorkshire 221 280 322 438 632
Staffordshire 208 241 212 183 154
Suffolk 116 160 194 119 149
Surrey 225 240 190 140 204
Sussex 189 171 250 163 162
Thames Valley 174 167 179 265 355
Warwickshire 104 31 138 102 144
West Mercia 100 111 241 152 94
West Midlands 563 592 975 952 745
West Yorkshire 609 565 543 656 1040
Wiltshire 43 39 28 54 124
Dyfed Powys 28 29 28 48 55
Gwent 16 16 23 74 85
North Wales 265 198 153 180 299
South Wales 218 253 161 165 223