Official Statistics

Police use of firearms statistics, England and Wales: April 2021 to March 2022

Published 14 July 2022

Applies to England and Wales

This release contains statistics on firearms operations and armed officer numbers in the year ending 31 March 2022.

Frequency of release: Annual

Forthcoming releases: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Jenny Bradley

Press enquiries: pressoffice@homeoffice.gov.uk

Telephone: 0300 123 3535

Public enquiries: PolicingStatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk

1. Summary

There were 18,259 firearms operations in the year ending 31 March 2022, similar to the previous year (18,245).

The two largest police forces accounted for 32% of these operations: Metropolitan Police Service (17%) and West Midlands Police (15%).

Of the 18,259 operations, 92% (16,853) involved an Armed Response Vehicle (ARV), the same proportion as the previous year (92%). There has been a gradual increase in the proportion of operations involving ARVs since records began in the year ending 31 March 2009 (81%).

There were 4 incidents in which police firearms were intentionally discharged, the same as the previous year.

There were 6,192 operationally deployable armed officers as at 31 March 2022, a 4% decrease (-286) compared with the previous year. This number excludes officers who were absent due to sickness (long or short-term), those who were isolating due to COVID-19 and those on restricted duties. In total, including all officers regardless of absences, there were 6,677 officers who were authorised to use a firearm as at 31 March 2022.

1.1 Impact of COVID-19

A range of restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic began on 12 March 2020, and the first UK lockdown measures were announced on 23 March 2020. Evidence shows that there was a reduction in crime and offending at the height of the pandemic across England and Wales. Figures presented for this year and the previous year (year ending 31 March 2021) may have been impacted by the pandemic and year-on-year comparisons should be considered within this context.

2. Introduction

This release contains statistics on police use of firearms from the 43 Home Office police forces in England and Wales, during the year ending 31 March 2022. It details the total number of:

• police firearms operations, including operations involving Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs)
• incidents in which police firearms were intentionally discharged at person(s)
• operationally deployable armed officers and total armed officers

Related Police use of firearms statistics data tables include figures for the years ending 31 March 2009 to March 2022.

The ‘Police use of firearms’ release is an Official Statistics output produced to the highest professional standards and free from political interference. It has been produced by statisticians working in the Home Office Analysis and Insight Directorate in accordance with the Home Office’s ‘Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics’ which covers our policy on revisions and other matters. The Chief Statistician, and the Head of Profession for Statistics, reports to the National Statistician with respect to all professional statistical matters and oversees all Home Office Official Statistics products with respect to the Code of Practice, being responsible for their timing, content and methodology.

3. Police firearms operations

3.1 Key results

In the year ending 31 March 2022, there were 18,259 police firearms operations in England and Wales, similar to the previous year (18,245). Of the 18,259 incidents, 92% (16,853) involved an ARV as the first or sole response.

Figure 1: Police firearms operations, including operations where an ARV was the first or sole response, England and Wales, years ending 31 March 2009 to 31 March 2022

Source: Home Office, Police use of firearms statistics data tables, Tables 1 and 2
Notes:

1. Percentage figures indicate the proportion of total police firearms operations where an ARV was the sole or initial response for each year.

The total number of firearms operations was relatively stable between the years ending 31 March 2012 and 31 March 2017, before increasing to 20,192 in the year ending 31 March 2019. Since then, the number of firearms operations has decreased year-on-year, to 18,259 in the year ending 31 March 2022. However, this figure remains higher than the trend seen in years ending 31 March 2012 to 2017. The lower levels in the most recent years may in part reflect the impact of COVID-19.

Data collection note There are certain types of operations that are excluded from the data collection and will not be reflected in the charts. Please see Section 7.3 for the full list of excluded operations.

Since the year ending 31 March 2017, the proportion of operations involving ARVs has increased from 84% to 92%, with increases seen in each year. In the year ending 31 March 2022, 92% of operations involved an ARV, which is the same proportion as the previous year and the largest proportion since the time series began in the year ending 31 March 2009 (81%).

Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs) ARVs are vehicles adapted to accommodate specialist equipment and enable firearms officers to be transported swiftly to deal with incidents.

3.2 Highest number of police firearms operations reported by the Metropolitan Police Service and West Midlands Police

The police forces with the highest number of police firearms operations in the year ending 31 March 2022 were the Metropolitan Police Service (3,133) and West Midlands Police (2,796). Together these forces accounted for 32% of all operations in England and Wales. These were also the forces that saw the largest numerical changes compared with the previous year. The total number of operations in the Metropolitan police force area decreased by 17% (-638) in the year ending 31 March 2022, making this a four-year downward trend, and the total number of operations in the West Midlands police force area increased by 13% (+319).

Figure 2: Total police firearms operations for the top 10 police force areas, England and Wales, years ending 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2022

Source: Home Office, Police use of firearms statistics data tables, Table 1

The largest year-on-year percentage increase of the ten police forces with the highest number of operations was seen in Greater Manchester police force area, with an increase of 33% (+156).

The largest year-on-year percentage decrease of the ten police forces with the highest number of operations was seen in the Metropolitan police force area, with a fall of 17%.

3.3 Highest number of operations per 100,000 population reported by West Midlands Police and Cleveland Police

When taking the size of the population into account, the highest number of police firearms operations per 100,000 population was seen in West Midlands Police and Cleveland Police, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Total police firearms operations per 100,000 population by police force area, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2022

Source: Home Office, Police use of firearms statistics data tables, Table 1 and Office for National Statistics, mid 2020 population estimates. Shape file source: ONS Geo-portal
Notes:

1. City of London is not included as the mid-2020 population estimate is less than 100,000.
2. The legend is ranked by the highest number of police firearms operations per 100,000 population by police force area.

4. Incidents in which police firearms were intentionally discharged at person(s)

These figures refer to incidents in which police firearms were intentionally discharged at person(s). The number of incidents do not reflect the number of firearms that were fired, or the number of shots fired.

In the year ending 31 March 2022, there were 4 incidents in which police intentionally discharged firearms at person(s). Table 1 shows that this is the same number of incidents as the previous year; the lowest number since the year ending 31 March 2014. This represents 0.02% of total operations.

Table 1: Number of incidents in which police firearms were intentionally discharged at person(s), England and Wales, years ending 31 March 2013 to 31 March 2022

Year ending	March 2013	March 2014	March 2015	March 2016	March 2017	March 2018	March 2019	March 2020	March 2021	March 2022
Number of incidents	3	3	6	7	6	8	13	5	4	4

Source: Home Office, Police use of firearms statistics data tables, Table 4
Notes:

1. Figures cover the number of incidents where conventional firearms were intentionally discharged.
2. The figures exclude less-lethal weapons such as AEPs and CEDs (Taser ®).
3. Excludes accidental discharges, discharges for animal destruction, the use of firearms during police training and tyre deflations.

5. Armed officers

5.1 Key results

As at 31 March 2022, there were 6,192 operationally deployable armed police officers, a 4% decrease (-286) compared with the previous year.

Following a five-year armed officer uplift programme which aimed to train and equip 1,000 extra firearm officers (announced on 1 April 2016 and separate from the current recruitment drive of an additional 20,000 officers), the number of operationally deployable armed officers increased from 5,639 on 31 March 2016, to a peak of 6,621 on 31 March 2019 (Figure 4).

Since then, the number of operationally deployable armed officers has fallen (in total down by 429 from 31 March 2019 to 6,192 on 31 March 2022), and this is the third consecutive year that the number has shown a decrease. However, since this figure excludes officers absent due to sickness (including those isolating due to COVID-19) and those on restricted duties, it is difficult to ascertain whether this is a genuine fall in armed officers, or whether it is linked to a fall in operationally deployable officers only.

Despite recent decreases, which may in part be linked to the impact of COVID-19 on sickness and isolation absences on 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2022, the number of operationally deployable armed officers is 10% (553) higher than prior to the armed officer uplift programme (as at 31 March 2016).

Figure 4: Number of operationally deployable armed officers, England and Wales, as at 31 March 2013 to 2022

Source: Home Office, Police use of firearms statistics data tables, Table 3
Notes:

1. Figures as at 31 March 2021 have been revised following a data confirmation exercise. See the revisions and data quality sections for more information.

To better understand the full picture of the number of armed officers, from the year ending 31 March 2022, additional information on all armed officers, regardless of absences (sickness absence, isolation, or restricted duties), has been collected. These are labelled as experimental statistics to acknowledge that further development and quality assurance of the data is needed following the first year of data collection. The data show that there were 6,677 armed police officers in total on 31 March 2022.

Data on the number of all armed officers, regardless of absences, are not available for previous years, but going forward these data will improve understanding of changes in the number of armed officers and the impact of absences.

5.2 Proportion of armed officers to unarmed officers remains stable

As at 31 March 2022, there were a total of 142,526 police officers in England and Wales, an increase of 4% (+4,836) compared with the previous year. This continues a three-year upward trend in the number of police officers, linked to the police uplift programme announced on 5 September 2019. The proportion of armed officers to total police officers was 4.3% as at 31 March 2022 and has remained stable over the last 10 years (between 4.3% and 5.3%).

Figure 5: Total number of armed and unarmed officers, England and Wales, as at 31 March 2013 to 31 March 2022

Source: Home Office, Police use of firearms statistics data tables, Table 3, and Police officer uplift data tables, Table U1
Notes:

1. The number of police officers is a head count for full time equivalents (FTE).
2. Percentage figures indicate the proportion of operationally deployable armed officers for each year.
3. Armed officer figures as at 31 March 2021 have been revised following a data confirmation exercise. See the revisions and data quality sections for more information.

Chief Officers are expected to determine the number of armed officers needed in their areas based on a thorough assessment of threat and risk.

6. Revisions

During the data confirmation exercise carried out with police forces for the year ending 31 March 2022, some forces submitted revisions for firearm operations, operations involving an ARV and the number of armed officers. These figures have been revised in the latest release in line with the revisions policy as set out in the Home Office Statement of compliance with Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Table 2 details these changes.

Table 2: Revisions to figures published in year ending 31 March 2021 release

Financial year	What was revised	Number of forces that made revisions	Previously published figures (in 2020-21 release)	Revised figures (in 2021-22 release)	Numerical change	% change
2020-21	Police firearms operations	4	18,262	18,245	-17	-0.1%
2020-21	Police firearms operations involving ARVs	6	16,713	16,704	-9	-0.1%
2020-21	Number of armed officers	23	6,543	6,478	-65	-1%

Source: Home Office, Police use of firearms statistics data tables, Table 1, 2 and 3.
Previously published figures from Home Office, Police use of firearms statistics data tables, Table 1, 2 and 3
Notes:

1. Figures for percentage change less than 1% are rounded to the nearest significant figure.
2. The number of revisions to armed officers for the year ending 31 March 2021 is likely due to differences in how operationally deployable was interpreted in relation to sickness and isolation rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, police forces were asked to re-submit data for operationally deployable armed officers defined as closely as possible to exclude only those who were absent due to sickness, isolating or on restricted duties based on the definition used by most forces. Some forces had also previously excluded those on paid leave in the year ending 31 March 2021.

The data for the latest year (and for previous years) may be revised in due course. It is standard practice across all Home Office statistical releases to incorporate revisions for previous years’ data in the latest release.

7. Quality and methodology

7.1 Data quality

During the year ending 31 March 2022 data collection process, it was identified that some forces had interpreted ‘operational deployable’ differently in relation to sickness and isolation rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, some forces were unable to provide figures that were fully compliant with the required definition of operationally deployable due to recording system constraints, but figures are as close to the required definition as possible.

The identification of differences in how ‘operationally deployable’ was interpreted has helped to improve the accuracy of the data included in the year ending 31 March 2021 and 2022 publications, but it remains possible that there are small inconsistencies in years prior to this. Guidance for police forces will be refreshed to further improve consistency in reporting.

7.2 Data assurance

These statistics are compiled by statisticians within the Home Office. They undertake a wide range of quality assurance checks and work closely with all 43 police forces with regular contact as needed. These checks follow the QAAD guidance (Quality Assurance of Administrative Data) and include:

• variance checks, i.e. investigating substantial changes in figures compared with the previous year
• including safeguards within the return to improve data quality
• ensuring all returns are accounted for, and that no duplicate returns are provided
• querying incomplete or invalid data and invalid combinations of data, provided in returns
• explaining to users about the data quality and the impact upon the statistics

7.3 Data collection

The statistics in this release are based on aggregate figures for the year ending 31 March 2022 submitted by the 43 territorial police forces as part of the Annual Data Requirement (ADR). The ADR is a list of all mandatory data requests made to police forces in England and Wales under the Home Secretary’s statutory powers.

As with previous releases, a data confirmation exercise was carried out by Home Office statisticians with the support of police forces. Validation and variance checks were carried out on the data as part of the quality assurance process. This reduces the risk of publishing incorrect figures.

The total number of operations involving the authorised deployment of armed officers excludes:

• operations where officers were stood down before being deployed
• armed officers deployed for VIP protection, armed prisoner escorts, airport patrols, other guarding duties and routine patrols
• firearms operations involving accidental discharges, discharges for animal destruction, during police training, or to deflate tyres
• operations where the reporting police force did not issue an authority but assisted another police force on an operation. The authorising police force would submit data relating to this operation, eliminating double counting

The total numbers of police firearms operations include all operations involving ARVs. The number of operations involving ARVs is a sub-category of all police firearms operations in which the initial or sole response was by an ARV.

Figures for incidents where firearms were intentionally discharged cover the number of incidents where police intentionally discharged conventional firearms. The figures exclude discharges of less-lethal weapons (see Glossary), and incidents involving accidental discharges, discharges for animal destruction, during police training, or to deflate tyres.

The number of armed officers incorporate all armed officer roles (including ARV officers, Specialist Firearms Officers and Counter-Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officers), as well as those currently being utilised as trainers or deployed in non-firearms roles.

The number of operationally deployable armed officers excludes officers who were absent due to sickness (long or short-term), those who were isolating due to COVID-19 and those on restricted duties. The total number of officers authorised to use firearms includes those who were not operationally deployable on the 31 March for the reasons above.

7.4 Changes to the data

Publications prior to year ending March 2017 included the number of ‘Authorised Firearms Officers’ (AFOs). An AFO was defined as “a police officer who has been selected, trained, accredited, and authorised by their Chief Officer to carry and use a firearm”. Following feedback from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), College of Policing, and police forces, the publications for the year ending March 2017 and onwards includes the number of ‘armed officers’.

This change was implemented to increase clarity, as the term ‘AFO’ can be used to refer specifically to an armed officer trained at the basic level, as well as to any armed officer in general. The change accounted for less than 0.5% of the total number of armed offers as at 31 March 2017. As such, the figures for 31 March 2017 and onwards are regarded as comparable with figures from previous publications.

7.5 Comparability of the data

Data from the year ending March 2002 to 2008 were not subjected to the same rigorous data validation or variance checks that have been applied to the data since. Therefore, the quality of these figures may not be of the same standard, making them incomparable with data from later years.

Data on the number of incidents in which police firearms were intentionally discharged has been collected as part of the ADR since the year ending March 2012. Previously, the data on incidents involving discharges were supplied by the NPCC who collected the information from forces. This was not a mandatory requirement, and the figures were not quality assured in the same way that the discharge data collected via the ADR have been.

The Police use of firearms statistics, England and Wales: financial year ending March 2014 release detailed some of the quality assurance work that took place for previous years, including data confirmation by Chief Officers for all data covering the period from the years ending March 2009 to 2014.

7.6 Rounding

Data are provided unrounded in the data tables accompanying the ‘Police use of firearms, England and Wales’ publication. This is to promote transparency and allow users to explore the data further. Unless specified within the notes for the table, percentages in the release are rounded to the nearest % using the round-half-away-from-zero method. For example, 23.5% will be rounded to 24%, and -23.5% will be rounded to -24%.

Where data are rounded, they may not add up to the totals shown, or, in the case of percentages, to 100%, because they have been rounded independently.

8. Glossary

Armed response vehicle (ARVs) - ARVs are police vehicles carrying armed officers trained to the ARV standard. These vehicles are crewed by uniformed officers who have been selected and trained to respond to a range of armed operations involving subjects on foot, in moving vehicles and in buildings. ARVs are adapted to accommodate specialist equipment and enable firearms officers to be transported swiftly to deal with ongoing incidents.

Armed officer - This refers to officers authorised to carry and use firearms, which should incorporate all armed officer roles (including ARV officers, Specialist Firearms Officers and Counter-Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officers), as well as those currently being utilised as trainers or deployed in non-firearms roles. For more information please visit the College of Policing website.

Attenuating energy projectile (AEP) - An AEP is a soft-nosed impact projectile fired from a single shot launcher. AEP is a form of less-lethal weapon only available to authorised officers who have been specially trained in its use. This gives specially trained officers an additional means of dealing with threats of serious violence. It delivers an impact that is not intended to cause serious or life-threatening injury but is of sufficient force to dissuade or prevent a violent or potentially violent person from their intended course of action, thereby reducing the threat.

Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officers (CTSFOs) - These are the UK’s most highly trained armed officers. They are trained to the SFO level and additionally in CT specific tactics and procedures. They provide a ‘second-wave’ response to ‘no notice’ terrorist attacks in support of ARVs, however their primary CT responsibility is to support planned operations. They also routinely deploy on planned serious and organised crime (SOC) operations in support of forces and regional organised crime units (ROCUs).

Firearm - This includes any conventional firearm routinely deployed by firearms officers. This does not include less-lethal weapons such as AEPs and Conducted Energy Devices (CED) i.e. Taser ®.

Police firearms operations - Police firearms operations involve the authorised deployment of armed officers where they may have to protect themselves or others from a person who: (a) is in possession of a firearm or other weapon; (b) has immediate access to a firearm or weapon; or (c) is otherwise so dangerous that the officer’s use of a firearm may be necessary.

Each operation is counted as only one operation regardless of the number of personnel (or deployments) or tactics employed, or the number of rounds discharged.

Police firearms operations involving ARVs - Police firearms operations in which an ARV was the initial or sole response are counted in this category. Police firearms operations in which ARVs were deployed as a secondary response would be counted in police firearms operations.

Specialist Firearms Officers (SFOs) - They are trained in dynamic entry and/or intervention, and provide support to planned operations. A small number of forces outside of the national CTSFO network train officers to SFO level.

9. Uses of the statistics

Uses of the statistics on police use of firearms are listed using the standard categorisation for official statistics.

a) Informing the general public’s choices

• about the state of the economy, society and the environment - figures on police use of firearms are used by the media in articles on police use of force
• about the performance of government and public bodies - figures on levels and trends in police use of firearms are requested via Parliamentary Questions and Freedom of Information Act requests to gauge performance in general or specific areas
• when officers take the difficult decision to deploy force it is vital that they can be scrutinised by the people they serve

b) Government policy making and monitoring
Police use of firearms statistics are used to monitor the operational performance and effectiveness of police forces, and to inform government policy and decisions by ministers. The statistics provide a national and regional level picture of armed policing, giving some insight into how public money is spent to resource policing capabilities and the UK’s capacity to deal with serious incidents.

c) Resource allocation - typically by central and local government
Policing statistics, including statistics on police use of firearms, demonstrate the range, extent and quality of police activities, and contribute to overall cases for police funding.

10. Related statistics and feedback

Releases in this series

Forthcoming publications are pre-announced on the Home Office statistics release calendar.

Police use of firearms, England and Wales statistical releases for the year ending March 2008 onwards are available from the Home Office pages of the GOV.UK website.

Figures for the years ending March 2002 to 2008 are also available online.

Police use of force

Statistics on Police use of force were published on 16 December 2021, and included the use of firearms as a tactic in incidents. A use of force incident differs in definition to police firearms incidents included in this release, as they represent each time an officer uses force on an individual, rather than specific events.

The use of force statistics include other data relating to firearms incidents such as location, incident outcome, reason for using force, and further subject details such as age, ethnicity, and gender. The two collections cannot be linked and it is not possible to identify specific firearms operations within use of force incidents.

Feedback and enquiries

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems, or have any feedback, relating to accessibility, or general questions regarding this publication, please email us PolicingStatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk.