This week I want to update you on how we have been getting on targeting the gangs who are causing anti-social behaviour in the community, stealing, dealing drugs and committing violent crime.

I mentioned previously that we use a matrix to track, score and monitor harmful gang members.

We currently have 244 young men on this list. This is a large number.

The good news is that 84 of them are currently in prison, a new high.

We also have 17 Anti-social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) on gang members enabling us to restrict, control and enforce acceptable behaviour upon them.

There are also more than 25 gang-linked ASBOs going through the criminal justice system at present.

Add to this the evictions of gang members we are pursuing with Hyde Housing for breach of tenancy, plus all of the prosecutions we have pending against gang members, and you can see that our matrix is in good shape.

Of course, there is still room for improvement and we must not rest.

Last week, after an intrusive search warrant, we recovered two handguns and ammunition, as well as some cannabis.

We ran a gang-focused Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) operation. We used spotters to also pull in falsely registered cars, pool cars shared between gang members and to look out for gang members riding in minicabs.

This brought in a good few arrests for possession of drugs and weapons and we seized several uninsured cars and also arrested two wanted offenders.

Targeted stop and searches also yielded some good results last week using IMEI checks.

The IMEI is the unique serial number for each mobile phone handset.

All stolen IMEIs across the UK are listed on immobilise.com where phone owners can also register their IMEI to make it easier to block and recover if it gets lost or stolen.

Brent officers carry out IMEI checks on the street and this way can find out if someone is carrying a stolen phone.

Last week we found five stolen phones this way.

The suspects were arrested, and the phones are being restored to the victims.

In due course, the suspects will appear at court charged with handling stolen goods.

Looking forward, a new tactical option will soon be coming on line with help from Operation Trident. This new tool is gang injunctions to target entire gangs.

These civil court injunctions can prohibit people associating with each other if the court is satisfied, to the balance of probabilities, that the gang cause harm above a certain threshold.

Trident will be providing us with specialist legal advice to draft these applications and will share the learning from Liverpool, where this tactic has achieved considerable success.

We are starting to gather the evidence for our first application already.

I look forward to sharing the results with you in due course.

We will always offer gang members help to change their ways, but as you can see our main focus is enforcement.

Last month we had more than 100 of Brent’s gang members in prison or under ASBOs. This month it will be even more.

My message to the gangs is very clear – we will not stop.

We will come after you with search warrants, with targeted stop and searches, with ANPR, with ASBOs, and with gang injunctions.

Change your ways or we will put you in prison.

As ever, if you have any information on crime matters, we will act. You can call us on Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, on 101, or your local Safer Neighbourhood Team can be accessed via the Met website at www.met.police.co.uk.

For daily updates and information about what is happening in Brent, you can follow us on Twitter at @MPSBrent.