MERSEYSIDE’S Police Commissioner will put the force’s response to serious violence, organised crime, retail crime and road safety under the spotlight at her next public Scrutiny Meeting.

The meeting on:- Monday, 14 September 2026 will see Emily Spurrell question Chief Constable Rob Carden and his senior leadership team on a range of policing priorities, including efforts to tackle knife crime, county lines drug networks, fraud, cybercrime, shop theft and dangerous driving.

The scrutiny session comes as the latest performance data covering June 2025 -June 2026 shows encouraging reductions in overall crime, serious violence, homicides, firearms discharges and residential burglary, alongside improvements in solved outcomes and public contact performance.

This includes:-
·       A 3.3% reduction in overall recorded crime and a 5.5% increase in crimes solved.
·       Improvements in call handling, including 93.8% of emergency calls being answered within 10 seconds and significant improvements in 101 answering times.
·       Ongoing efforts to tackle serious violence, with fewer people losing their life to murder or manslaughter in the region and just 7 firearms discharges in the 1st 6 months of 2026.
·       The force's work to disrupt organised crime groups and county lines activity through Project Medusa, which has seen more than 560 county lines closed from June 2025 to June 2026 and more than 600 arrests during two intensification weeks.
·       A 14% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the region’s roads in the 1st 6 months of the year.

The Commissioner will discuss with the Chief Constable how these improvements can be sustained while also challenging the force on areas where significant threats remain. This will include scrutiny of the force’s response to retail crime, shop theft and fraud, which continue to have a significant impact on businesses and communities across Merseyside.

For the 1st time, the meeting will also include a dedicated discussion on missing persons, examining how repeated incidents can be linked to child exploitation, vulnerability and county lines activity.

As part of the meeting, Emily will also invite the Chief Constable to comment on Merseyside Police’s latest inspection findings from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and its current policing performance grading.

The meeting forms a key part of the Commissioner’s commitment to transparency and accountability, providing an opportunity to publicly scrutinise the Chief Constable on Merseyside Police’s performance and ensure local policing remains focused on the issues that matter most to communities.

Members of the public are invited to watch the meeting online and Emily will once again put questions submitted by residents directly to Chief Officers. This quarter's public questions cover topics including neighbourhood policing, armed policing, shoplifting, e-bikes, roads policing, police stations and the future of the force's vehicle fleet. There will also be questions from two of the PCC’s independent scrutiny members who are appointed to represent Merseyside’s communities.

Merseyside’s Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said:- "These scrutiny meetings are 1 of the most important ways I hold Merseyside Police to account on behalf of the public. The latest figures show some very positive progress, with overall crime reducing, more crimes being solved and significant reductions in some of the most serious offences, including homicides and firearms discharges. While these improvements are very welcome, there remain areas where the public rightly expects to see continued focus and progress, including knife crime, organised crime, retail crime, fraud and road safety."

Emily continued:- "My role is to ensure Merseyside Police is delivering effective policing, protecting vulnerable people, tackling criminality wherever it occurs and making the best possible use of the resources available to it. I will also be putting questions from members of the public directly to Chief Officers, helping to ensure local concerns are heard at the highest level. I would encourage anyone with an interest in policing and community safety to tune in and watch the meeting."

The meeting will be livestreamed from:- 1pm on:- Monday, 14 September 2026 at PCC Scrutiny - Monday 14 September 2026, 1:00pm - Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Webcasting, with a recording available afterwards on the PCC's website.