Police use of firearms: statistics
This written ministerial statement was laid in the House of Commons by Damian Green and in the House of Lords by Lord Taylor of Holbeach.
![The Rt Hon Damian Green](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a4f6801ed915d595171e249/damian-green.jpg)
The Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice (Damian Green):
I am today publishing statistics on police use of firearms in England and Wales for the period 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013. These show that:
- The number of police operations in which firearms were authorised was 10,996 – a decrease of 1,554 (14.1 %) on the previous year
- The number of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFO’s) was 6,091 – a decrease of 665 (10.9%) officers overall on the previous year
- The number of operations involving armed response vehicles was 13,116 – a decrease of 1,145 (8.7%) on the previous year
- The Police discharged a conventional firearm in 3 incidents (down from 5 incidents in 2011-12)
Full details are set out in the following tables