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Extra officers alone won't stop the violence gripping Middlesbrough, writes the former Scotland Yard detective

A vicious feud played out on the streets of south London in the 1980s. Two warring families, who were both anchored in the world of organised crime, battled for drug dealing and reputational supremacy.

A member of one family would be shot, so their relatives would then exact their revenge by filling one of their enemies with lead. Blood flowed, lives were lost, and extravagant funerals followed.

Innocent members of the public would sometimes get caught up in the crossfire. Social housing estates were gripped by fear, and one detective said to me, 'I don't give a damn, let them kill one another, I'm only too happy to visit them in the mortuary.'

Other detectives adopted a more robust position. They were happier to see these criminals in the dock at The Old Bailey, but getting witnesses to talk was extremely difficult, compelling forensic evidence was a rarity, and the gathering of DNA samples was yet to become a thing.

In this era, the top detectives at New Scotland Yard occupied those positions for a reason. They were leaders, not managers, they knew who the kingpin villains were, and they spent a lot of time plotting their downfall.

Spreadsheets, key performance indicators and DEI policies were yet to be invented.

Local officers who were struggling to solve the stabbings, the punishment beatings and the inevitable murders, would hoover up a huge amount of information about these criminals, (they call it intelligence these days), predominantly about their drug importations, their methods, their warehouses, and their foot soldiers.

Pragmatic bosses decided that if they couldn't be jailed for the killings, then we'd set about banging them up for their industrial-scale drug supplying.

Because these pernicious gangsters had spread so much terror through their murderous activities, they had also become very adept at convincing jurors that it was in their best interests to return not guilty verdicts.

Needs must, so in order to tackle the monumental task of bringing about the downfall of these criminals, new and audacious tactics were deployed.

Specialist officers rose to the task, evidence was courageously and painstakingly gathered, and some well-known faces trudged down the steps of the courtrooms to begin their very long jail sentences. For half a generation the guns fell silent, till a whole new breed of youngblood gangsters realised there was lots of money to be made.

I've listened, watched and commented a lot on the dreadful events panning out in the Middlesbrough area this past week. The utter horror of the loss of life, and the wider criminality stemming from it, have taken me back to those dark days of the 1980s.

I'm pleased that some 200 extra police officers have been drafted in to assist those detectives slaving under a very demanding workload. Boots on the ground may provide some short-term respite from the bloodshed, but comfort to communities will only be brought about when the toxic personalities who are behind this lawlessness are sent down for a very long time indeed.

If, by chance, you know something, anything, about these monsters who do not deserve to walk among us, then please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers will never, and I mean never, trace you or declare your identity to any living soul.