A wave of shootings across the region may be tackled with more resources for a specialist police unit.
Since April there have been 18 firearms discharges in Greater Manchester.
The last two years has seen a stark rise in the number.
This week a 20-year-old man survived after being hit three times when he was shot in Moss Side on Sunday.
On July 2nd shots were fired in a playground in Dainewell Park, near where children were playing.
In 2020/21 there were 71 firearms discharges which resulted in 17 people being injured and three killed. The fatalities included promising boxer, Cole Kershaw, 18, shot in August 2020 in Bury; and a double murder in Moss Side during a street party last June which claimed the lives of Cheriff Tall, 21, and Abayomi 'Junior' Ajose, 36.
The number of shootings was actually down by 14 ,compared to 2019/20 when there were 85.
Detective Supt Danny Inglis head of GMP's Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: "Whilst 18 so far since April is an improving picture, it is still far higher then we want. Every shooting is one too many.
"We have Simon Acker a Detective Inspector assigned to the Serious and Organised Crime Firearms Team, so we now have a dedicated resource looking at that and we are looking to bolster the numbers we have in that team. That's what we are pushing for at the moment
"We have had a stubborn number of offences for the last two and a half years and we need to do something different along with other services. I need to make sure we have as much resources as we can behind us.
"We need to make sure we have a community presence but also a proactive capability and reactive response to a discharge - we need to get on top of an incident very quickly, investigating and following lines of inquiry.
"We need to proactive policing as well - so if we are gaining intelligence we are acting on it. I want one team to be dedicated to that."
One element of the policy will mirror that of Xcalibre - the successful anti-gang and gun crime unit set up 15 years ago when gun crime in Manchester hit a disturbing peak.
Officers will be on the streets, armed, as a deterrent - "in the faces" of suspects.
But, crucially, police will be working with local community groups to deter young men from picking up a gun.
GMP's Serious and Organised Crime Unit is working to stop the repeat of an unwanted label which Manchester had in the noughties for gun crime. In 2007 there were 150 shootings resulting in 50 injuries and four deaths.
In 2008 there 91 shootings, 2009; 76; and 2010, 60. The setting up of Xcalibre and work in the community to steer young people away from crime saw impressive results.
In 2011 the number of shootings fell to 31; 2012; 40; 2013, 22; and 2014, 24.
A fierce gang war in Salford between the city's A-Team and Antis crime groups contributed to a sharp rise in shootings to 59 in 2015 with 18 people being injured and two killed
GMP has had success in Salford in the last 12 months with Operation Naseby, using covert and high-profile policing to target the activities of crime groups. Shootings there have reduced by 40 per cent from 25 to 15, and 180 people have been arrested to diffuse a gang war.
In North Manchester a gangland feud this year - largely played out in and around Rochdale and spilling into Moston - saw six shootings, and then resulted in a high-profile one in St Peter's Square on February 27.
Around 20 people have been arrested so far. Worryingly, a significant number of those suspected of being involved in the North Manchester dispute are young - and potentially more reckless with firearms
A significant element of the supply line for guns to the region is the conversion of blank firing guns and starter pistols into lethal weapons. They are bought online or from gun shops, legitimately, then converted in makeshift 'factories' to use live ammunition.
Detective Supt Inglis said: "In relation to conversions, this is a big problem nationally with converted weapons. We have recovered numerous hand guns that have been converted. They are blank firing weapons normally.
"We work with Merseyside closely as between the two areas we account for most of the discharges in the north west."
