Police firearms operations rose by 19% in the past year as the number of armed officers was increased and they took to the streets more often amid a growing threat from terrorism and violent crime.



The Home Office, which released the statistics on Thursday, said such operations in England and Wales had reached their highest level in seven years. Police in England and Wales carried out 18,746 armed operations in 2017-18.

Officers opened fire on 12 occasions, up from 10 the previous year, including the fatal shooting of three terrorists to stop the London Bridge terrorist attack in June 2017.

There were increased firearms operations in most regions, with the biggest increase in the West Midlands, which had a 53% rise in armed deployments, to 1,145. Gun crime in the West Midlands has been a problem, but in the north-west, which is broadly similar in terms of crime levels, there was a fall in armed deployments of 4%.

West Midlands police said: “We now have more armed patrol vehicles out and about on the streets than ever before keeping people safe and, as a result, we have the capacity to respond to more incidents.”

Simon Chesterman, the national lead for armed policing with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: “The threat from international terrorism and increases in violent crime have both contributed to an increase in the numbers of armed deployments. A significant proportion of these will be where armed officers have been deployed as a contingency, for example at public events where there are large crowds.”

The three regions with the most armed operations in England and Wales were London with 5,142, 27%, of the total number, followed by the West Midlands with 3,312 (18%) and Yorkshire and the Humber with 2,130 (11%).

The areas with the fewest armed police deployments were the north-east with 461 (2%), the east Midlands with 973 (5%) and Wales with 1,137 (6%).

The Home Office said the number of authorised firearms officers in England and Wales increased to 6,459, a rise of 181 or 3%., following a decision to increase the number to better cope with the threat of an armed terrorist attack.

The vast majority, 84%, of armed operations were carried out by officers in special gun cars called armed response vehicles, which drive around ready to be deployed.

The figures cover the “authorised deployment of armed officers where they may have to protect themselves or others from a person who is in possession of a firearm, has immediate access to a firearm or is otherwise so dangerous that the officer’s use of a firearm may be necessary”, the Home Office said.

“The use of firearms by the police should always be a last resort, considered only where there is a serious risk to public or police safety,” it added. “However, where an operational need arises, specialist armed officers should be available to be deployed.”