GREATER Manchester Police (GMP) carried out more than 400 firearms operations in the space of a year, new figures have revealed.
A total of 449 operations were ordered by the force between April 2019 and March this year, one less than the previous year, according to Home Office statistics.
The number of GMP firearms officers increased from 215 to 242 in that time too.
And the amount of police firearms operations in the two countries fell for the first time in four years.
Operations fell by four per cent between April 2019 and March this year to 19,372.
This was 820 fewer than the previous period and sees the first drop in usage since the year to March 2016, a Home Office report said.
Officers’ guns were fired at people in five incidents, down from 13 in the previous period. This is the lowest number of incidents since 2013/14 when there were four.
The two largest police forces – the Metropolitan Police and West Midlands Police – carried out 35 per cent of the operations, with 4,195 and 2,562 respectively.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here