Schoolchildren in Liverpool attend ‘Dear Merseyside’ event to help tackle organised crime

Merseyside Police and partners have taken a bold step in their fight against organised crime, hosting an impactful event today, December 4, at the Odeon Cinema in Liverpool ONE.

Dear Merseyside brought together 120 young people, the families of Sam Rimmer, Ashley Dale, Olivia Pratt-Korbel and Elle Edwards, as well as community leaders to ignite change and build safer communities across the region.

The event featured a film with spoken word artist Joseph Roberts delivering a message of awareness and hope across EVOLVE areas, which are those identified as being worst affected by organised crime groups.

The film produced by NPK Media and commissioned by Liverpool City Council, Merseyside Police and the PCC features some of Ashley, Olivia and Elle’s family members, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, PCC Emily Spurrell, as well as other members of the emergency services and the community.

Supported by Safer Schools Co-ordinator Faye Smith, 120 schoolchildren from 10 schools attended – 108 Year 8 schoolchildren and a group of Year 6 pupils from Olivia’s primary school St Margaret Mary’s in Huyton.

The children, aged between 10 and 13, also heard from Catch22 who provide support and services to young people at risk of exploitation or have already been exploited by organised crime groups.

Everton in the Community presented on their Steve Morgan Community Impact Model, which highlighted their holistic delivery within schools and communities in the EVOLVE areas and the LFC Foundation gave talks on the Premier League’s Kicks programme, which links in to EVOLVE with their diversionary activities and aims to develop confidence, self-esteem and raise aspirations among those who attend.

To complete the event two people with lived experience recounted to the audience what it was like to be exploited and EFC player James Tarkowski gave a special recorded message to the schoolchildren.

The aim of the ‘Dear Merseyside’ event was to start reaching a younger audience to promote the work of EVOLVE in helping to shut down criminal gangs and strengthen areas that have been worst affected by their activity, which is where the children who attended live and go to school.

Deputy Chief Constable Chris Green, who spoke at the event, said:

“Tackling serious and organised crime is a priority for the Force and today’s event is one of many initiatives we are undertaking with our partners to try to prevent young people from joining or being exploited by gangs, to safeguard those who are vulnerable and to help make our communities safer for all.

“We want to increase awareness among young people about exploitation and the dangers of getting involved in drug-related and gang-related activity.

“The Dear Merseyside spoken word poem supports our Clear, Hold, Build and Silence is Not an Option messaging and is essentially a call for change, to young people in particular, to empower them to refuse the draw of gangs and knife culture, and to improve future prospects for all.

“It delivers a thought-provoking message of hope and will be rolled out to all schools across Merseyside by our Safer Schools Officers as part of their prevention work.

“Prevention is key in tackling organised crime and working with young people to open their eyes to the dangers of organised crime groups, which can be hidden to them, is vital if we are to stop them from falling into their trap and experiencing or causing serious harm.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Graeme Robson, who heads up the EVOLVE operations for Merseyside Police, added:

“As part of our ongoing commitment to breaking the business and recruitment models of organised crime groups we have been working closely with young people across Merseyside as early intervention to prevent people becoming involved in crime and violence.

“Together with our partners we are working to try to change attitudes from a young age about issues such as ‘grassing’, joining gangs and carrying weapons as well as highlighting the signs of grooming and dangers of exploitation with our Silence is Not an Option and Eyes Open campaigns.

“These equip young and vulnerable people with knowledge of the signs of exploitation, what to do if someone they know is being exploited and aim to give them confidence to make a report to either us or Crimestoppers so we can take action to protect those in need and arrest offenders.

“Over the last five years we have been taking part in an increasing number of projects and diversionary activities with our Safer Schools Officers, our Project Medusa team which helps to tackle County Lines and exploitation, and partners such as LFC, EFC, Tranmere Rovers, Catch22, Local Authorities and Change, Grow, Live to name a few.

“These projects have seen good results, and we continue to see year-on-year reductions in overall crime, but we are not complacent and are always looking at ways to make a positive difference.”

Since the launch of the EVOLVE projects there has been a significant drop in crime in all the areas, a total of 2939 arrests made and lengthy custodial sentences handed to offenders.

EVOLVE Liverpool-Knowsley has seen the following results in an 18-month period before its launch in August 2022 to 18 months after:

• All crime – 18% decrease
• ASB – 42% decrease
• Drugs – 6% increase due to all the proactive work carried out by officers
• Burglaries – 30% decrease
• Personal robberies – 27% decrease
• Criminal Damage – 10% decrease
• Possession of weapons – 3% decrease

There have also been 1,743 arrests since August 2022, a significant reduction in serious violence and firearms discharges, a number of Gang Injunctions handed out, more than £610,000 in cash and asset seizures, over 190kg of suspected Class A and B drugs recovered, nearly 100 people safeguarded and over 70 offensive weapons, eight firearms, and suspected stolen bikes and vehicles seized. 

EVOLVE Wirral has seen the following results in an 18-month period before its launch at the end of December 2022 to 18 months after:

• All crime – 23% decrease
• ASB – 12% decrease
• Drugs – 46% decrease
• Burglaries – 48% decrease
• Personal robberies – 26% decrease
• Other serious acquisitive crime – 50% decrease
• Criminal Damage – 34% decrease
• Violence with injury – 10% decrease

There have also been 1013 arrests, hundreds of thousands of pounds of suspected Class A and B drugs seized, 16 Gang Injunctions handed out, numerous weapons including firearms, crossbows and knives taken off the streets and vulnerable people safeguarded.

EVOLVE Netherton has seen the following decreases in an 18-month period before its launch in April 2023 to 18 months after:

• All crime – 26% decrease
• ASB – 56.5% decrease
• Serious and Acquisitive Crime – 48.6% decrease
• Drugs – 18% decrease
• Burglaries – 56% decrease
• Personal robberies – 40% decrease
• Common Assaults – 30% decrease
• Criminal Damage – 40% decrease
• Violence with injury – 4% decrease

The area, which is the smallest project and covers Park Lane, has also seen 183 arrests, 15 warrants executed, 3kg of cocaine and one cannabis cultivation seized, three firearms and ammunition recovered, £8,000 in cash seized and nine vulnerable people who were being exploited have been safeguarded.

Merseyside Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said:

“Since its launch in January 2023, EVOLVE has made great in-roads in tackling and dismantling organised crime gangs, preventing them from returning to the places they operated, safeguarding vulnerable people, and making those neighbourhoods safer places to live, work and play.

“Building on that work and campaigns such as Silence is Not an Option and Eyes Open, it’s crucial we keep the topic of exploitation of young people by criminals at the forefront of people’s minds. By doing so, we can raise awareness of the signs of grooming and disrupt the recruitment model of these illegal networks, preventing our young people from going down a dangerous path that can lead to violence and crime.

“Dear Merseyside carries a stark, powerful message. It says enough is enough and calls on young people and communities to work with Merseyside Police and our partners, to break the cycle of violence. It’s also designed to give them the courage to choose the right path and reject a life of suffering they would experience at the hands of these callous gangs.

“By listening to our young people and working with them, we can further enhance the success of these projects, improving their opportunities, reducing crime and building a safer, stronger Merseyside for generations to come.”

Catch22, the LFC Foundation and Everton in the Community gave powerful talks to the young children at the event. Vikki McKenna, Service Manager at the Pan-Merseyside Child Exploitation service, from Catch22 said: “We are pleased to join our partners today, united by our shared mission and commitment to protect children and young people from exploitation and violence.”

Franny Hargreaves, Youth Intervention Department Manager from the LFC Foundation, said:

“The LFC Foundation has been working with Merseyside Police and Project Medusa for the past four years, supporting secondary schools and local communities through our Onside+ and Premier League Kicks programmes.

“The Onside+ initiative aims to educate young people about County Lines and Child Exploitation, empowering them to create positive changes within their communities. 

“We are proud to be a part of this event today and we will continue to work closely with Merseyside Police to allow for better support to be provided to identified schools and areas of need within the EVOLVE areas, with support from Safer School Officers, Local Policing Teams, and other community partners.”

Lara King, Director of Children and Youth Services at Everton in the Community, added:

“Organised crime is a real pertinent issue in our communities and one in which Everton in the Community is committed to tackling through its programmes and the EVOLVE partnership.

“The event was an effective way of bringing these social issues to life to raise vital awareness to young people about organised crime and exploitation.”

EVOLVE is Merseyside’s response to the Home Office’s Clear, Hold, Build strategy which is a multi-partnership approach to improve communities identified as being worst affected by serious and organised crime. 

EVOLVE aims to clear these areas of criminal gangs through intelligence-led enforcement targeting organised crime groups, their networks, business interests, criminality and enablers. 

The hold phase sees police stopping remaining OCG members or rival groups taking advantage of the vacuum created while the build phase sees interventions within the community to tackle the drivers of crime and build community resilience so further organised crime cannot take place.

There are three existing EVOLVE operations in Merseyside – EVOLVE Liverpool Knowsley which extends to Dovecot, Yew Tree, Page Moss, Longview, Huyton and immediate surrounding areas; EVOLVE Netherton covering the Park Lane area; and EVOLVE Wirral which covers Woodchurch, Beechwood and Noctorum. 

EVOLVE Everton will be launching in the New Year.

To watch the Dear Merseyside video see here: EVOLVE – Joseph Roberts ‘Dear Merseyside’

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