Debate: Firearms (England and Wales)

Independent Safeguarding Authority

Firearms (England and Wales)

Determinate and Indeterminate Sentences and Recalled Prisoners

Thursday 11th July 2013

(11 years, 3 months ago)

Written Statements

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The Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice (Damian Green)

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My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is today publishing the statistics on police use of firearms in England and Wales for the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012. These show that:

The number of police operations in which firearms were authorised was 12,550 - a decrease of 946 (7.5%) on the previous year.

The number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs) was 6,756—an increase of 103 (1.5%) officers overall on the previous year.

The number of operations involving armed response vehicles was 14,261—a decrease of 2,513 (17.6%) on the previous year.

The police discharged a conventional firearm in five incidents (up from four incidents in 2010-11).

Full details are set out in the following tables:

*Table 1 – Number of Operations in which Firearms were Authorised*
	Table 1
	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
AVON & SOMERSET	262	311	333	247	285	328	339	267	250	193
BEDFORDSHIRE	301	442	475	575	663	1,217	1,229	869	1,047	783
CAMBRIDGESHIRE	57	104	241	201	207	316	460	490	402	347
CHESHIRE	451	397	358	367	340	317	269	314	244	226
CLEVELAND	170	453	530	657	293	577	667	430	581	489
CITY OF LONDON	131	364	404	323	239	365	63	38	64	64
CUMBRIA	77	72	152	112	92	92	86	80	109	67
DERBYSHIRE	401	369	287	305	223	211	310	198	179	190
DEVON & CORNWALL	96	112	71	84	80	143	170	185	189	163
DORSET	193	231	223	263	354	258	369	351	242	194
DURHAM	83	156	144	291	340	206	181	140	205	202
ESSEX	312	275	296	432	245	529	529	444	384	402
GLOUCESTERSHIRE	185	127	176	229	280	162	132	175	133	160
GTR MANCHESTER	518	507	461	478	481	497	524	415	360	414
HAMPSHIRE	162	208	237	289	352	382	362	292	360	487
HERTFORDSHIRE	172	195	185	187	280	303	343	205	334	247
HUMBERSIDE	187	183	206	362	235	209	123	133	166	99
KENT	137	207	163	219	170	202	280	275	213	168
LANCASHIRE	238	318	241	240	410	388	281	245	169	113
LEICESTERSHIRE	268	295	260	363	334	318	347	280	196	217
LINCOLNSHIRE	392	386	294	220	157	158	133	73	97	134
MERSEYSIDE	628	751	733	669	727	829	556	701	663	708
METROPOLITAN¹	3,199	3,563	2,964	4,711	3,878	4,948	2,029	1,971	1,661	1,303
NORFOLK	200	178	195	175	153	174	274	192	252	219
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE	138	148	158	137	156	159	120	109	129	182
NORTHUMBRIA	1,275	1,140	977	611	332	229	154	156	167	150
NORTH YORKSHIRE	100	147	185	183	282	329	289	272	228	280
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE	452	459	408	394	289	270	245	194	279	303
SOUTH YORKSHIRE	463	484	546	749	737	628	538	533	434	384
STAFFORDSHIRE	281	255	216	171	250	244	209	183	231	201
SUFFOLK	270	251	153	202	256	193	237	225	227	280
SURREY	247	203	151	222	222	375	479	188	162	141
SUSSEX	204	280	187	190	201	331	331	227	205	247
THAMES VALLEY	167	195	289	427	264	293	344	319	257	326
WARWICKSHIRE	149	164	124	180	162	150	145	129	93	101
WEST MERCIA	91	197	162	122	155	202	171	122	98	114
WEST MIDLANDS	902	1,377	1,264	1,044	1,557	1,063	1,109	933	750	641
WEST YORKSHIRE²	604	575	853	1,335	1,245	831	887	737	641	450
WILTSHIRE	58	63	88	139	226	128	158	152	86	87
DYFED POWYS	29	28	51	63	72	155	92	71	91	292
GWENT	37	40	81	94	133	334	152	151	139	197
NORTH WALES	259	197	223	350	340	259	185	126	182	186
SOUTH WALES³	281	250	236	279	308	293	555	628	597	399
TOTAL	14,827	16,657	15,981	18,891	18,005	19,595	16,456	14,218	13,496	12,550

*Table 2 – Number of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs)*
	Table 2
	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
AVON & SOMERSET	84	122	118	117	103	123	127	124	129	120
BEDFORDSHIRE	53	58	56	59	57	53	50	54	55	55
CAMBRIDGESHIRE	71	60	60	50	46	49	51	45	46	49
CHESHIRE	89	75	76	73	80	72	88	95	87	80
CLEVELAND	80	95	100	100	105	97	83	72	74	64
CITY OF LONDON	72	86	89	86	45	49	50	51	53	52
CUMBRIA	87	89	90	89	90	97	86	91	92	91
DERBYSHIRE	69	70	74	75	69	61	61	71	65	60
DEVON & CORNWALL	115	132	123	122	132	142	146	157	146	147
DORSET	59	60	64	62	67	71	79	65	62	58
DURHAM	102	97	103	100	102	89	82	81	70	67
ESSEX	184	186	202	205	220	225	223	223	207	202
GLOUCESTERSHIRE	80	82	93	92	94	95	97	108	102	97
GTR MANCHESTER	202	205	187	245	217	250	296	237	227	236
HAMPSHIRE	94	94	92	97	83	85	93	96	87	92
HERTFORDSHIRE	47	50	53	52	49	53	50	46	47	45
HUMBERSIDE	96	96	101	92	83	87	80	77	72	77
KENT	93	90	94	94	98	87	110	103	97	101
LANCASHIRE	129	122	115	123	103	143	105	94	92	95
LEICESTERSHIRE	68	51	53	59	67	64	73	76	71	78
LINCOLNSHIRE	87	78	86	87	75	77	69	60	71	62
MERSEYSIDE	84	94	93	129	139	153	154	141	127	122
METROPOLITAN	1,823	2,060	2,134	2,331	2,584	2,530	2,740	2,856	2,665	2,731
NORFOLK	109	114	125	119	127	114	106	111	112	125
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE	56	52	50	56	59	53	50	55	50	55
NORTHUMBRIA	99	90	93	98	92	96	95	102	96	95
NORTH YORKSHIRE	64	60	56	78	67	67	63	64	72	77
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE	131	138	138	149	146	137	133	91	98	92
SOUTH YORKSHIRE	100	98	122	116	118	106	99	102	86	98
STAFFORDSHIRE	63	67	76	70	82	82	75	85	81	88
SUFFOLK	80	96	88	84	78	74	67	68	79	67
SURREY	48	53	49	51	45	54	54	60	56	54
SUSSEX	141	134	130	129	129	123	123	114	129	129
THAMES VALLEY	180	172	176	180	186	180	180	193	194	199
WARWICKSHIRE	51	46	53	55	59	63	66	76	60	62
WEST MERCIA	131	139	141	152	133	163	137	115	132	134
WEST MIDLANDS	110	124	134	145	175	177	165	180	167	156
WEST YORKSHIRE	132	140	130	150	148	147	135	156	140	156
WILTSHIRE	78	80	74	72	69	67	74	69	65	70
DYFED POWYS	62	58	79	68	72	67	63	64	72	79
GWENT	60	71	74	86	64	63	54	61	59	59
NORTH WALES	75	73	65	57	56	57	53	76	57	80
SOUTH WALES	125	139	134	130	115	138	121	114	104	100
TOTAL	5,763	6,096	6,243	6,584	6,728	6,780	6,906	6,979	6,653	6,756

*Number of Operations Involving Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs)*
Table 3
	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12
AVON & SOMERSET	215	249	312	167	192	292	231	137	135	146
BEDFORDSHIRE	269	414	419	534	639	1,171	1,188	819	991	739
CAMBRIDGESHIRE	45	155	172	160	172	221	366	393	307	256
CHESHIRE⁴	337	356	773	807	793	642	221		244	226
CLEVELAND⁵	63	86	154	285	290	554	661	426	481
CITY OF LONDON	131	364	275	234	183	200	63	32	63	64
CUMBRIA	45	65	134	90	72	74	56	51	75	50
DERBYSHIRE	363	312	254	257	183	187	252	169	141	152
DEVON & CORNWALL	32	94	54	54	76	120	138	168	174	154
DORSET	180	215	195	246	322	238	347	349	200	148
DURHAM	66	96	91	256	204	192	164	140	204	193
ESSEX	176	138	138	155	224	226	391	273	187	277
GLOUCESTERSHIRE	166	109	121	145	213	147	120	100	78	104
GTR MANCHESTER	406	440	364	306	214	196	460	292	288	290
HAMPSHIRE	108	128	167	178	270	271	247	194	312	427
HERTFORDSHIRE	129	157	155	160	226	262	311	182	286	206
HUMBERSIDE	170	158	184	335	232	183	94	111	115	85
KENT	132	193	124	183	373	364	325	227	203	134
LANCASHIRE	185	273	228	232	383	313	279	239	166	109
LEICESTERSHIRE	232	269	232	328	313	268	332	263	180	209
LINCOLNSHIRE	367	355	276	210	147	153	128	63	89	124
MERSEYSIDE	547	687	677	611	644	734	445	631	491	584
METROPOLITAN⁶	2,447	2,423	2,322	2,572	2,770	2,303	7,374	7,295	6,009	4,696
NORFOLK	186	169	163	149	133	165	252	176	217	183
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE	90	99	89	101	119	127	117	88	104	159
NORTHUMBRIA	1,204	1,063	893	585	299	199	129	134	112	103
NORTH YORKSHIRE	67	110	144	208	268	318	287	267	210	265
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE	397	404	336	342	256	246	197	175	220	239
SOUTH YORKSHIRE	280	322	438	632	522	493	387	325	307	259
STAFFORDSHIRE	241	212	183	154	222	231	192	155	224	153
SUFFOLK	160	194	119	149	204	148	206	189	166	207
SURREY	240	190	140	204	209	380	469	174	155	137
SUSSEX	171	250	163	162	165	311	248	177	175	108
THAMES VALLEY	167	179	265	355	227	254	292	272	225	291
WARWICKSHIRE	31	138	102	144	121	113	100	92	73	71
WEST MERCIA	111	241	152	94	120	121	128	148	93	108
WEST MIDLANDS	592	975	952	745	518	716	739	689	597	451
WEST YORKSHIRE⁷	565	543	656	1,040	1,060	645	634	450	412	347
WILTSHIRE	39	28	54	124	190	359	499	120	49	61
DYFED POWYS	29	28	48	55	72	135	80	59	71	199
GWENT	16	23	74	85	109	257	138	147	131	101
NORTH WALES	198	153	180	299	295	221	156	107	165	166
SOUTH WALES⁸	253	161	165	223	283	222	485	570	1,649	1,280
TOTAL	11,848	13,218	13,137	14,355	14,527	14,972	19,928	17,068	16,774	14,261

*Table 4 – Number of Incidents where Conventional Firearms were Discharged*
Year
	2002/03	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11⁹	2011/12
INCIDENTS	10	4	5	9	3	7	5	6	4	5
% OF INCIDENTS COMPARED WITH NUMBER OF AUTHORISED OPERATIONS	0.067	0.024	0.031	0.048	0.017	0.036	0.030	0.042	0.030	0.040

Source: Association of Chief Police Officers

(Does not include discharges for animal destruction or during police training)

Notes for tables:

¹Revised figures supplied for 2008/09 to 2011/12 by Metropolitan Police Service.

²Revised figures supplied for 2006/7 to 2011/12 by West Yorkshire Police.

³Revised figures supplied for 2010/11 by South Wales Police.

⁴Cheshire did not record ARV operations for 2009/10.

⁵Cleveland did not record ARV operations for 2011/12.

⁶Revised figures supplied for 2011/12 by Metropolitan Police Service.

⁷Revised figures supplied for 2006/7 to 2011/12 by West Yorkshire Police.

⁸Revised figures supplied for 2010/11 to 2011/12 by South Wales Police.

⁹Revised firearms discharge figure for 2010/11.

Source: Home Office Public Order Unit, based on information aggregated from figures provided by individual police forces as part of the Home Office Annual Data Requirement. This was followed by a further quality assurance process involving the Home Office asking individual forces to verify and sign off their figures.

The information provided is a regular annual update of figures previously published and available on the Home Office website here:

http://tna.europarchive.org/20100419081706/http:/www.police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operational-policing/firearms/index.html.

Home Office guidance to forces for providing these figures is contained within the booklet “Annual Data Requirement, Police Personnel and Performance Data, Notes for Guidance”. For the purpose of this statistical return AFOs are deemed to be deployed when

“they are required to conduct a specific task during which their possession of a firearm (with appropriate authorisation) is a required element” [Chapter 3, paragraph 3.1 A.CPO Manual of Guidance on Police Use of Firearms].

In addition to the total number of operations, a further sub-category is required regarding those operations where the initial or sole response is by Armed Response Vehicle (ARV).

Each incident will be classed as only one operation regardless of the number of personnel/deployments or tactics employed to deal with the incident.

Deployments also include those incidents where AFOs “self-authorise”.

The number of officers authorised to use firearms is at 31 March 2012.