Revealed: Number of firearms offences in the West Midlands logged last year
A record low number of firearm offences were logged in the West Midlands last year.
New figures from the Home Office show West Midlands Police recorded 456 firearm offences in the year to March, meaning the double fatal shooting in Wolverhampton last month did not count towards the total.
It was down 21 per cent from 576 the year before, and the lowest figure since records began in 2007/08.
It means there were 15 firearm offences per 100,000 people in the West Midlands last year, which was above the eight per 100,000 average in England and Wales.
Firearm offences include times when a firearm is fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person or used as a threat. The figures exclude the use of air weapons.
Police forces across England and Wales logged 5,103 firearm offences last year – a 21 per cent decrease on 6,449 in 2023/24 and the lowest figure since 2014/15.
These included 790 offences in which lethal-barrelled and unknown firearms were fired, which was up 14 per cent from 693 the year before but remained the second lowest figure since 2015/16.
In the West Midlands, 161 lethal-barrelled or unknown firearms were fired last year.
The figures also show nationally young people were disproportionately represented among firearm victims.
Those aged between 10 and 30 made up 43 per cent of firearm victims in the year to March, while they accounted for 25 per cent of the population.
A spokesperson from West Midlands Police said: "We are relentless in our pursuit of those who are involved in gun crime, and have seen considerable successes disrupting and arresting those responsible, while taking scores of lethal weapons off the streets.
"We’ve uncovered criminal gangs through our proactive work to seek out those who use violence and intimidation, and when we’ve had major incidents that have resulted in people being seriously injured on the streets of the West Midlands, we’ve acted swiftly and decisively to investigate and put those responsible behind bars for years to come.
"We’ve put in place dedicated resources to quickly review CCTV, mobile phone and forensic evidence, and our focus on local policing means we work really closely with officers in neighbourhoods to understand the community impact and gather information and intelligence.
"We would urge anyone with information on criminals linked to gun crime in the West Midlands to get in touch and tell us what they know, so we can prevent harm to communities."
