North West Armed Policing SOP Amendment
Anthony Grainger Inquiry · The Anthony Grainger Inquiry Report into the Death of Anthony Grainger · Issued 11 July 2019 · Addressed to: Greater Manchester Police
Government responseHome Office: Accepted (May 2020)
DeliveryHome Office says in progress (May 2020)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The North West Armed Policing Standard Operating Procedure on Weapons and Ammunition should be amended so that it only permits the use of new specialist munitions that have been approved in accordance with the Code of Practice on Police use of Firearms and Less Lethal Weapons.
Anthony Grainger Inquiry, The Anthony Grainger Inquiry Report into the Death of Anthony Grainger · 11 Jul 2019 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
The Inquiry recommended amending armed policing procedures to restrict specialist munitions to approved weapons. The Home Office stated in May 2020 that Greater Manchester Police had revised its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to require approval from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), and the department (Home Office response, May 2020). The department added in May 2020 that the force was updating the procedure following publication of the new Code of Practice for Armed Policing and Less Lethal Weapons (Home Office, May 2020). The record holds nothing dated later than the response of May 2020 (Home Office response, May 2020).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 12 Oct 2026.
About this summary
Government response
●Home Office · Accepted · 19 May 2020
20. The use of CS dispersal canisters by GMP during Operation Shire was a focus of concern for the Inquiry. The CS dispersal canisters had not been through the approval process that includes the identification of an operational requirement by NPCC, testing by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and approval by the Home Secretary for use by police forces in the UK. 21. Greater Manchester Police has informed the Government that in anticipation of a recommendation of this nature, they have revised their Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to set out that only Less Lethal Weapons and Specialist Munitions which have been approved by Defence Science and Technology laboratories (Dstl), NPCC and Home Office should be used. 22. GMP are updating the SOP now that the new Code of Practice for Armed Policing and Less Lethal Weapons has been published.
Extract from: Government response to the Anthony Grainger public inquiry (accessible version)
Delivery
●Home Office says in progress · 19 May 2020
21. Greater Manchester Police has informed the Government that in anticipation of a recommendation of this nature, they have revised their Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to set out that only Less Lethal Weapons and Specialist Munitions which have been approved by Defence Science and Technology laboratories (Dstl), NPCC and Home Office should be used.
22. GMP are updating the SOP now that the new Code of Practice for Armed Policing and Less Lethal Weapons has been published.
From: Government response to the Anthony Grainger public inquiry (accessible version)
How this page is built
The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.