Shooting victims who refuse to co-operate with police will not be left to take measures into their own hands, a leading detective has warned.
Officers are regularly met with a wall of silence when investigating attacks - even from those left fighting for their lives.
But while efforts to bring their attackers to justice will be relentless, the spotlight will also be turned onto those targeted and why.
That is the powerful message of Detective Chief Inspector Matt Smith, whose Firearms Investigation Unit is tasked with combating the region's gun thugs.
That unit was launched in January of last year and has already overseen a dramatic fall in shootings in the region.
The fewest number of gun attacks in a calendar year this century were recorded in 2020.
And the unit's work has already led to some of the region's most dangerous men being removed from the streets.
Two shooting murders in the early stages of the first national lockdown have been solved with six men having received life sentences after being successfully caught, charged and prosecuted in less than 12 months.
Those have not been the only successes in the battle against gun crime, with detectives working round the clock to identify the gunmen who bring misery to the streets of Merseyside.
As part of the wider battle to clamp down on such trouble, police have developed their approach to prevent one shooting from turning into a series of tit-for-tat attacks.
That means fighting hard to stop those who are targeted but keep quiet with the intention of seeking their own justice.
DCI Matt Smith said: "If the victim does not co-operate, we will still do what we would have done had they co-operated.
“Our experience indicates that many victims of gun crime are aware of the reasons they have been targeted or persons responsible but they do not help with our investigations.
“Not only do these individuals choose not to co-operate, they actively attempt to disrupt the investigations by lying about the location of the incident or the motives and individuals responsible
“We do however continue to work with these individuals to seek their support and co-operation but we will always put the community at the heart of the investigation.
“It must be terrifying living or working in the street, the next street and wider area which has been subjected to a shooting. This is why we will treat our communities as the victim and continue with our investigations despite the specific targeted individual not co-operating.
“When individuals don’t co-operate, we ask ourselves the obvious questions - why were they targeted? They often know the answer to this. Do we think they might retaliate? And we rightly place some focus of our investigation on them and any criminal activity that they may be involved in.”
That focus is delivered in a number of ways.
In the aftermath of a shooting the surrounding area is often flooded by patrols, from local policing teams to armed response vehicles and officers conducting roadside stop checks in a bid to offer reassurance while also restricting the ability of troublemakers to carry out follow-up or retaliation incidents.
Beyond that, intelligence will be discussed about who is believed to be involved, who is already under suspicion in that area and whether they could be connected.
Every opportunity to put pressure on criminals in the surrounding streets will be taken - hitting their activity whether they were linked to the shooting or not.
As a result, dozens of police staff are involved in the meetings, briefings and follow-up work in the 24 hours after a gun attack.
DCI Smith said his officers will support any victim - including those targeted because of their own antics.
But he explained when that is the case, the force's priority is the safety of the wider community - both from further attacks and from a single incident spiralling into a feud that repeatedly places others at risk.
He said: “Innocent people are living next door, in the same street and adjoining streets to these individuals and have suffered as a result of the wrong address being targeted or caught in the backdrop of a shooting, being injured as a result.
“This is completely unacceptable and we will do everything we can to support our communities and victims by tackling those willing to arm themselves with a gun and pull the trigger.
"Each time we can remove someone linked to gun crime is an opportunity to make our streets safer for our children to play out and people to live and work feeling safe and secure.”
Ultimately, when a shooting takes place, the wider community suffers.
When that attack is targeted due to the victim's own criminal activity, making that wider community feel safe is a priority.
And their help - from witness reports to raising concerns about suspicious activity - is often crucial to achieving that.
DCI Smith said: “I want to assure our communities that when a shooting takes place, we’ll work around the clock to ensure the people responsible are caught with or without the help of victims. So please keep supporting what we are doing and I promise that you will see the difference where you live.”
