[holding answer 14 July 2006]: The requested data are not collected centrally.
The number of operations in which firearms were authorised since 1983, the number of incidents when shots were fired using conventional firearms, and the number of Authorised Firearms Officers in police forces in England and Wales since 1996-97 are shown in the following tables. Statistics for 2005-06 are likely to be announced in October.
Number of operations 1983 3,180 1984 2,667 1985 2,488 1986 2,453 1987 2,185 1988 2,227 1989 2,583 1990 2,874 1991 3,722 1992 4,479 1993 5,625 1994-95 6,141 1995-96 8,726 1996-97 12,379 1997-98 11,842 1998-99 10,928 1999-2000 10,915 2000-01 11,109 2001-02 13,991 2002-03 14,827 2003-04 16,657 2004-05 15,981 Note: Figures for operations in which firearms were issued to officers are not available for the first three months of 1994
Incidents 1996-97 5 1997-98 3 1998-99 5 1999-2000 7 2000-01 9 2001-02 11 2002-03 10 2003-04 4 2004-05 5
Total 1996-97 6,738 1997-98 6,585 1998-99 6,308 1999-2000 6,262 2000-01 6,064 2001-02 5,776 2002-03 5,763 2003-04 6,096 2004-05 6,243