Written question asked by Lord Stratford (Labour) on Monday, 9 February 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 24 February 2004. It was answered by Hazel Blears (Labour) on Tuesday, 24 February 2004 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many serving police officers are qualified in the use of firearms; and what the figure was five years ago. - Table given.

Answer: Mr. Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many serving police officers are qualified in the use of firearms; and what the figure was five years ago. [154687] Ms Blears: The number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs) in police forces in England and Wales for years 1998-2003 is shown in the table. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs) 1997-98 6,585 1998-99 6,308 1999-2000 6,262 2000-01 6,064 2001-02 5,776 2002-03 5,763 _________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Secondary information