A year after a spate of gun deaths that rocked the city to its core, Merseyside Police say their efforts to take down organised crime are reaping remarkable results.
The force responded fiercely after the shootings of Sam Rimmer, Ashley Dale and Olivia Pratt-Korbel within six days in August last year. Merseyside was rocked again in October with the murder of grandmother Jackie Rutter, and then the murder of Elle Edwards on Christmas Eve.
Chief Constable Serena Kennedy spoke of how her officers have been relentless in degrading criminal gangs in areas, such as Dovecot, where parents "didn't want to let their children play out on the street" following the murder of nine-year-old Olivia by Thomas Cashman.
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She said: "We want better for our reputation of Merseyside, we want better for our communities and we want better for our children."
The work of Merseyside Police was recognised in a glowing report from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) on its response to serious and organised crime (SOC), which carried a rating of 'outstanding' for the sixth consecutive time.
CC Kennedy said in 2023 Merseyside has seen a total of 11 firearms discharges, none of which have ended in death, which is down from 49 last year including the five fatalities. CC Kennedy said after the five murders last year, which bucked the tend of falling gun violence, the force "renewed its commitment" to tackling serious and organised crime and ramped up disruption activity with the help of investment from central government.
She said: "Some of the results speak for themselves in terms of if we look at firearms discharges for example we have only had 11 firearms discharges this year, now I say only, one firearms discharge is one too many. But for the number to fall from last year when we had 49 to 11 this year, and when we look back to 2018 and we were seeing numbers up in the 80s and 90s, and indeed when we look back to 2012, 120 firearms discharges that year.
"I think the results of that really hard edged pursue activity we have done to tackle SOC and tackle firearms crime speaks for itself".
According to the HMIC report, inspectors found evidence of "strong leadership" around SOC, good analysis of intelligence held in the Force Intelligence Bureau, and described being "impressed by the level of knowledge in neighbourhood policing teams".
Despite "owning the highest threat" in the North West relating to firearms, the report noted: "The force is working with the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) and regional forces to reduce this threat. This work is underpinned by extensive analysis of intelligence to understand the threat and identify suspects who may be involved in the supply of these weapons."
The force was also found to be collaborating well with the National Crime Agency (NCA) in an organised crime partnership unit. The report stated: "It is similar to existing units in London and Scotland and targets organised crime groups (OCGs) based in Merseyside, which focus on drugs and firearms. Through the partnership, the force can access the specialist capabilities that the NCA provides. The unit has achieved some notable results, including the recovery of firearms and criminal assets."
CC Kennedy described one example of collaboration with the NCA and NWROCU in tackling the threat posed by a sudden spike in the use of Skorpion sub-machine guns, which were responsible for the deaths of Sam Rimmer, Ashley Dale and Elle Edwards. She said the NCA are focusing on identifying how the weapons have made their way onto the mainland, while her officers try and root them out in Merseyside.
For CC Kennedy, some of the most important work is making communities toxic to organised crime groups through strategies such as 'clear, hold, build', which refers to the traditional policing job of clearing an OCG out of an area, but then preventing the community being taken over by a new group and building resilience to make locals less tolerant or susceptible to gangs.
She said: "I think the work we have done around Clear, Hold, Build and Operation Evolve has been really positive.
"So you look at the work we did in Dovecot in relation to Operation Evolve, after the murder of Olivia, 420 people were arrested during that really short period of time, and at that time the communities of Dovecot were saying they didn't want to let their children play out on the street, for understandable reasons, for the tragic way in which Olivia lost her life.
"For me the really important bit around that is 'hold and build', listening to what the community tell us around the issues and challenges they are living with and what they are facing on a daily basis, and how we at Merseyside Police but also working with our partners can then work with them to help them problem-solve it themselves or indeed do the work that we need to do.
"But it's also about not doing this to communities, it's around us doing it together and empowering our communities. The reason that's so important is there's no point clearing all of those organised crime group members out of an area, because we know other people might look to go back in and take over that patch so to speak."
She added: "These people are toxic in our communities and we will do everything we can to take them off the streets so the majority of people in our communities can enjoy their local facilities and spaces safely and without fear."
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