Heavy drop in number of police firearms operations across Notts

Armed police officers in Nottinghamshire were called out to 53 per cent fewer incidents in 2020/21 than the previous year.

New figures reveal that armed police officers across the county responded to three incidents per week, on average, during 2020/21.

This equated to 138 incidents in the year to March, which was down by 53 per cent from 2019/20 when there were 295 firearms operations.

The Nottinghamshire statistics contrast sharply with those for England and Wales as a whole, where the fall was six per cent to 18,262.

There are no figures available that specifically relate to the Mansfield and Ashfield areas.

The Home Office, which supplied the data, said armed officers are only deployed to incidents where someone else is armed or is considered so dangerous that the use of a gun might be necessary.

It added that the reduction in firearms operations might have reflected the impact of the lockdown restrictions in place during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the Nottinghamshire force said it did not wish to comment.

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The data also disclosed that, of the 18,262 police firearms operations across England and Wales, officers actually fired their weapons on only four occasions.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said this was a mark of the quality of training and officers’ professionalism.

Chief Constable Simon Chesterman, the NPCC’s lead for armed policing, said: “The discharging of weapons is always a last resort. I am proud to see there were only four occasions when our officers were required to do this.”

Mr Chesterman also pointed out that forces, including Nottinghamshire’s, are now better equipped to deal with operations thanks to an increase in the number of armed response vehicles. At least one was present in 92 per cent of call-outs last year.

He added: “Forces can now respond to major incidents, such as terrorist attacks, faster and with greater numbers.”

Nottinghamshire Police echoed the views of the NPCC and said the force preferred not to add its own comments.

The number of firearms officers employed in England and Wales is 6,543, which is 16 per cent higher than five years ago.

As of March 31 this year, Nottinghamshire Police had 67 armed officers, compared to only 18 in 2016.

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