How many times were armed police called out in Cleveland?
Home Office data shows Cleveland Police conducted 268 armed operations in the year to March.
That was up 267% from 2018-19, when there were 73 firearms operations, but down 38% compared to a decade ago
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Hide AdMeanwhile, the number of armed officers in the force rose from 55 to 57 over the period.
A decade earlier, there were 72 armed officers in Cleveland's ranks.
Durham Constabulary conducted 69 armed operations in the year to March.
This was down 21% from 2018-19, when there 87 firearms operations, and 51% from a decade ago.
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Hide AdMeanwhile, the number of armed officers in the force rose from 55 to 63 over the period. A decade earlier, there were 81 armed officers in Durham's ranks.
Nationally the number of firearms officers fell 2% to 6,518 by March 31 - despite the Government's £143m recruitment drive in 2016 for 1,500 more over five years.
National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for armed policing, Simon Chesterman, said using a weapon is "always a last resort".
He added: "A mark of the quality of training that armed officers receive is how infrequently they have to use their weapons.
A Home Office spokesman said: “More than 4,000 officers have already joined as part our pledge to recruit 20,000 additional officers in the next three years.