A scheme aimed at tackling gang activity in Liverpool has brought about an increase in public confidence in the police three years since three fatal shootings in the space of a week, police have said.

Merseyside police said the scheme, based on the principles of clearing an area of gang activity, holding it so that organised crime cannot return to it, and building a cohesive community, has led to an 300% increase in community intelligence, as well as more than 5,300 arrests and the seizure of about 630kg of Class A and B drugs.

It was one of the first forces in the country to receive Home Office funding for a “Clear, Hold, Build” initiative – known locally as Evolve – after a spree of gun-related homicides in the area that took the lives of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, 28-year-old Ashley Dale and 22-year-old Sam Rimmer in August 2022.

Additionally, police reported confiscating 260 offensive weapons, 28 firearms and roughly £2.5m in cash and assets, which they said would be reinvested into local communities.

Speaking about the anniversary of the shootings that “rocked” Merseyside, Det Ch Supt Graeme Robson said his team had seen a “strong and positive response” from the community.

“We get a really good response from communities who want to work with us,” he said. “They don’t want these kind of tragedies to occur in their communities.

“One of the other things we’ve seen … is our intelligence reporting from communities is far higher across our four Evolve areas than it was previously, which I think is a sign that those communities have confidence in reporting information because they want us to do something about it.”

The Evolve project was officially launched after the death of Elle Edwards, 26, who was killed in a shooting outside a pub in Wallasey on Christmas Eve 2022, and has received support from throughout the city, with both Everton and Liverpool football clubs providing weekly community events for locals.