A senior police officer has admitted there is still “lots to do” to reduce gun crime across Merseyside after five high profile murders last year.
Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Mark Kameen said despite Merseyside experiencing its lowest rate of firearms discharges for more than two decades, the region’s police force had a way to go to improve while women and children were being killed on our streets. T/ACC Kameen was among a panel of senior police officers who were being scrutinised by Emily Spurrell, Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner.
Data on the force’s performance over the last financial year indicated homicide and firearms discharges had increased.
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T/ACC Kameen said in 2022/23 firearms incidents increased to 42 compared to a total of 39 in the 12 months previously. Among these were five high profile killings, including those of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in her own home in Dovecot, council worker Ashley Dale and beautician Elle Edwards, who was shot dead outside a pub in Wallasey on Christmas Eve.
The senior officer, who led the investigation into Olivia’s murder, said despite the “terrible events” of 2022, progress had been made on gun crime. He said: “Merseyside is experiencing at the moment its lowest firearms discharge rate for 21 years.
“Last year we had 42 discharges, the year before we had 39. If I go back four years and beyond that, the force and the region was experiencing anywhere between 85 and 100, so some significant reductions in threat, harm and risk, impact on our communities and impact on policing time and all the emergency services, particularly health.
“We’ve managed to sustain that for the last three years now, so it wasn’t just a covid blip, we’ve managed to keep those numbers down.” In October 2022, Jackie Rutter, 53, was gunned down on the doorstep of her home in Moreton, Wirral.
Only two months earlier, Sam Rimmer, 22, was shot dead on Lavrock Bank, in Dingle. T/ACC Kameen said it was important to remember those who had been killed as a result of gun crime amid the data indicating improvements across Merseyside.
He said: “It’s absolutely right while we talk about it being the lowest in 21 years, significantly reduced and sustained, we all know the events of August last year, the terrible events and the whole of last year we had five firearms enabled homicides, and therefore the force absolutely accepts there’s a great deal of work to get those numbers down and sustained but we’ve still got lots to do when we’ve got people dying because of firearms discharges, particularly children and women.”
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