Firearms Officer Salary
The short answer
An authorised firearms officer takes home £23,276 to £46,065 a year — £1,939.64 to £3,838.72 a month — after income tax, National Insurance and pension contributions.
Armed Police Pay by Rank (basic, outside London)
| Pay Point | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Constable (AFO) (entry) | £32,255 | £2,687.92 |
| Constable (AFO) (top) | £52,015 | £4,334.58 |
| Sergeant (AFO) (entry) | £55,443 | £4,620.25 |
| Sergeant (AFO) (top) | £58,175 | £4,847.92 |
| Inspector (firearms command) (entry) | £66,000 | £5,500.00 |
| Inspector (firearms command) (top) | £71,396 | £5,949.67 |
Take-Home Pay After Tax, NI and Pension
| Pay Point | Gross | Pension | Tax | NI | Net | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constable (AFO) (entry) | £32,255 | £4,335 | £3,070 | £1,574 | £23,276 | £1,939.64 |
| Constable (AFO) (top) | £52,015 | £6,991 | £6,491 | £3,050 | £35,483 | £2,956.92 |
| Sergeant (AFO) (entry) | £55,443 | £7,452 | £7,084 | £3,119 | £37,788 | £3,149.03 |
| Sergeant (AFO) (top) | £58,175 | £7,819 | £7,575 | £3,174 | £39,608 | £3,300.69 |
| Inspector (firearms command) (entry) | £66,000 | £9,095 | £10,194 | £3,330 | £43,381 | £3,615.09 |
| Inspector (firearms command) (top) | £71,396 | £9,838 | £12,055 | £3,438 | £46,065 | £3,838.72 |
Authorised firearms officers are paid the national scale for their rank. Some forces pay a local firearms or specialist allowance on top; there is no national figure for it, so nothing is added here. Standard tax code, no overtime, no student loan.
Check your own figure
An authorised firearms officer, or AFO, is paid on the national scale for their rank. Firearms is a specialism rather than a grade: an AFO who holds the rank of constable is paid as a constable, on exactly the same seven pay points as a response or neighbourhood officer.
Some forces pay a local firearms or specialist-role allowance on top of the scale. These are negotiated force by force rather than nationally, and there is no single published figure for them, so nothing is added to the figures on this page. If your force pays one, enter it in the calculator as additional annual pay to see the effect on your take-home.
Where armed officers do often earn materially more is through hours rather than rates. Firearms units carry substantial on-call and overtime commitments, and overtime is paid at enhanced rates for cancelled rest days and short-notice recalls. None of that is pensionable, so it raises take-home without raising the pension contribution.
The table below shows the national scale for the ranks AFOs most commonly hold, with take-home after a PPS 2015 contribution, income tax and National Insurance.