fir tree 300
A total of 769 arrests have been made since October 2007 in connection with gang-related crime, 7,000 stop and searches have been carried out and 234 searches have been held at premises across the area.
Since October 2007, 9,000 visits have been made to suspected gang members – the equivalent of a visit once every 48 hours.
Tit for tat shootings and assaults
TROUBLE within the Croxteth and Norris Green areas started in early 2004 when Daniel McDonald, who was with known Croxteth gang members at the time, was gunned down in Norris Green’s Royal Oak pub on New Year’s Day.
Tit-for-tat shootings, assaults and acts of criminal damage escalated, with victims more often than not refusing to talk to police.
One such incident was the murder of Liam Smith, known as Smigger, outside Altcourse prison in August 2006.
On 70 occasions between August 2004 and February this year alleged members of the gangs shot at and smashed windows of various addresses linked to the opposing factions. Police say before 2004, gang related crime was not an issue in the area.
