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Firearms: Crime

Volume 461: debated on Thursday 14 June 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms offences have been committed in each police authority area in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. (142139)

The information requested is set out in the following table.

Crimes recorded by the police in which firearms (excluding air weapons) were reported to have been used, by police force area: England and Wales 1997 to 2005-06

Recorded crime

Police force area

1997

1998-991

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-022

2002-033

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

North East Region

Cleveland

18

20

26

16

24

18

45

37

41

Durham

17

13

40

18

19

16

15

21

18

Northumbria

78

76

107

99

86

103

169

182

137

North West Region

Cheshire

22

32

22

44

50

31

44

61

71

Cumbria

8

11

5

13

9

13

11

26

18

Gtr. Manchester

620

647

875

935

1,361

1,240

1,275

1,268

1,200

Lancashire

71

50

78

59

103

66

58

259

372

Merseyside

127

286

240

278

299

318

483

491

485

Yorkshire and the Humber

Humberside

83

76

61

69

63

68

68

174

108

North Yorkshire

28

11

8

9

28

18

23

13

15

South Yorkshire

80

75

114

129

170

153

127

185

301

West Yorkshire

162

193

191

335

332

333

269

318

355

East Midlands Region

Derbyshire

69

52

65

72

58

73

75

149

109

Leicestershire

48

98

71

58

74

174

141

123

89

Lincolnshire

5

16

19

24

22

37

26

90

72

Northamptonshire

40

54

48

40

55

107

123

113

128

Nottinghamshire

120

112

173

157

204

264

233

305

277

West Midlands Region

Staffordshire

36

23

53

108

116

131

108

144

128

Warwickshire

20

20

14

39

53

62

102

73

76

West Mercia

36

38

36

41

54

48

62

151

115

West Midlands

428

407

664

816

1.289

1,101

1,138

959

946

East of England Region

Bedfordshire

43

46

56

48

82

86

89

94

103

Cambridgeshire

34

35

43

31

49

57

34

50

34

Essex

58

47

61

77

98

148

145

193

280

Hertfordshire

45

30

36

36

69

139

138

139

114

Norfolk

20

34

24

20

26

36

33

23

29

Suffolk

5

15

18

22

15

28

45

59

58

London Region

1,960

2,034

2,945

3,036

4,197

4,202

3,891

3,697

3,884

South East Region

Hampshire

29

38

52

49

58

97

130

148

85

Kent

100

76

109

108

60

64

65

100

142

Surrey

31

35

42

52

40

34

88

63

87

Sussex

107

115

119

110

155

136

82

67

85

Thames Valley

109

96

107

198

267

362

421

437

401

South West Region

Avon and Somerset

55

71

103

100

131

119

123

196

167

Devon and Cornwall

40

75

81

64

52

36

84

174

Dorset

25

11

12

14

34

17

45

49

27

Gloucestershire

23

22

21

23

89

92

108

87

77

Wiltshire

19

19

10

13

26

60

53

49

43

Wales

Dyfed Powys

13

16

13

26

26

17

37

40

21

Gwent

19

26

19

11

18

52

74

85

53

North Wales

19

27

10

6

6

18

11

60

88

South Wales

34

31

52

67

56

74

47

104

71

England and Wales

4,904

5,209

6,843

7,470

10,023

10,248

10,338

10,882

11,084

1 There was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998.

2 Numbers of some recorded crimes may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard before 1 April 2002.

3 The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by this