The deployment of AFOs should only be authorised in the following circumstances:

- where the officer authorising the deployment has 'reason to suppose' that officers may have to protect themselves or others from a person who:
- is in possession of, or has immediate access to, a firearm or other potentially lethal weapon, or
- is otherwise so dangerous that the deployment of armed officers is considered to be appropriate, or
- as an operational contingency in a specific operation (based on the threat assessment), or
- for the destruction of animals which are dangerous or are suffering unnecessarily.