Gun crime rates have plummeted in Merseyside despite a series of “nasty” shootings including one which left a 15-year-old girl with serious injuries.
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Green said Merseyside Police would not “rest on its laurels” in cracking down on gun crime, despite the apparent decrease in offences. A meeting held to scrutinise senior figures within the force, held by Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell, was told that 29 weapons discharges have been recorded in 2021/22, down from 83 in 2019/20.
Louise Kane, head of performance and analytics at Merseyside Police, said there had been a “year-on-year decrease” in damage, discharges, fatal shootings and injuries sustained as a result of a firearm. However Commissioner Spurrell pointed out there had been a number of “nasty incidents” connected to gun crime.
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In this month alone Merseyside was hit with a series of serious incidents, with police making multiple arrests in relation to the shooting of a 15-year-old girl at a bus stop in Toxteth, while a 23-year-old man was s hot “multiple times” on Hoole Road, Woodchurch, Wirral. A sawn-off shotgun was also found during a raid of a property in Prescot.
Shots were fired near a primary school in Kensington in February, with a gun fired near residential properties in Bootle during the same month. Another gun was found during a similar raid to that of the one in Prescot when carried out in Wirral.
ACC Green responded that Merseyside Police had been marked as an “exemplar” across the country in relation to its response to firearms incidents. He said: “What we know in Merseyside is that one discharge is one discharge too many so there will be that relentless pursuit right across the force with our partners, in relation to anybody who is in possession or use of illegal firearms on our streets.”
ACC Green added that dedicated resources were in place to tackle gun crime, with preventative work being taken out “with our local communities in terms of ensuring we don’t get young people drawn into gangs and use of firearms.” He said that a “whole host” of work was ongoing in relation to preventing firearms being transported into Merseyside from abroad, as well as “identifying those involved in possession, supply and use of firearms.”
The senior officer said that the data showing a decrease in discharge of firearms across the region was “an incredibly positive story” and the force was “starting to reap the rewards and benefits” of cross partner working and its “preventative, protection, preparedness” efforts. He added: “We don’t rest on our laurels because we know one discharge is one too many as we know from recent events.”
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