A proactive initiative resulting in 19 arrests has been labelled a "really good success” by East Area BCU's interim boss.

Operation Massac saw officers across Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge and Havering use intelligence to identify street crime hotspots during December and January.

The operation is part of Det Ch Supt Paul Trevers’ desire to “investigate crime better” and bring more offenders “to justice”.

The officers involved do not do this kind of work often due to commitments on the emergency response team. However, Det Ch Supt Trevers said he believes getting them involved enables them to “supplement the everyday policing that they are doing”.

Nineteen arrests, including for weapons and drugs, were recorded as a result of these additional deployments across the two months, as well as 47 stop-and-searches and eight community resolutions.

The BCU confirmed there are plans for the deployments to continue.

In addition to Operation Massac, the force has been running initiatives including the cross-borough Operation Gambler.

Focussing on burglars, carjackers and other offenders, it recently recorded a total of more than 700 arrests since it was established several years ago.