It has also pulled more than a dozen weapons off local streets.

The new Strategic and Tactical Enforcement Program (STEP) was set up with the help of a grant from the provincial government and is designed to augment the work of Peel's undercover Gang Unit.

The 12 uniform officers cover both Brampton and Mississauga, trolling gang hangouts and knocking on gangsters' doors to make sure they are abiding by their court-imposed restrictions- keeping their curfews, staying away from places the courts have banned them, and not associating with each other.

The STEP unit has orchestrated six large sweeps, and so far, the statistics are impressive. The unit has seized two semi-automatic pistols, one Tec-machine pistol, a sawed-off shotgun and 10 other weapons. They have done 55 compliance checks on gang members under court restrictions, laid 82 criminal charges and 48 drug charges.

The 12 officers drive marked cruisers and are meant to be high profile in the hope that they will help deter gang violence. They are specially trained to deal with gangs and gang members, according to Peel police.

Peel received $1 million last year to crack down on guns and gangs. Some of that money was used to set up the STEP unit, while the rest was used to double the size of Peel's Gang Unit to 24 officers from 12.

Beefing up the Gang Unit has also garnered results, according to Peel police Chief Mike Metcalf.

In 2007, Peel's Gang Unit removed 41 guns from local streets and laid 350 criminal charges against gang members. Another 115 drug charges were also laid, and 38 search warrants executed.

The number of local gangs and gang members has grown in the last five years. In 2003, police had identified 39 gangs in Brampton and Mississauga. That number swelled to 110 by 2007 with 1,092 identified members and 525 associates.

Despite those numbers, Metcalf cautions "perspective".

"There's 25 per cent (of the 110 gangs) that I would consider problematic," he said.

They are the ones causing trouble, he said.

"They're into extortion, they're into drug trafficking, bank robberies, the high value where there is a lot of money in it," he said.

And they aren't just teenagers, he confirmed.

"They might start in Grade 9 or 10, but they're well into their 30s, some of them. They're career criminals, that's what they become."