Whatever the loyalty between partners and wives and husband it's not worth being locked up for a considerable amount of time as an accessory

Lee Jasper, Chair, Independent Advisory Group

Commander Michael Fuller who leads the unit said they were getting a lot of information on shootings - many of them drugs related - and who carried them out.

But he said the reluctance of wives and girlfriends to come forward was hampering their efforts.

"We're not recovering as many guns as we'd like to.

"We know the guns are moved very quickly, we know wives and girlfriends are involved in actually hiding these guns.

"We need them to come forward," he said.

Commander Michael Fuller wants more co-operation from the black community

Lee Jasper who chairs the Independent Advisory Group which liaises with the Metropolitan police also urged the partners of gunmen to overcome their reluctance and help the police.

"We're saving lives by handing in guns.

"These guns are inevitably used and then passed on to other criminal elements.

"So one gun creates a hell of a lot of damage in London," he said.

Operation Trident which was set up two years ago, was stepped up in July to tackle so-called "Yardie" shootings.

Since then the rate of shootings has slowed and the number of arrests has increased.

So far this year there have been 11 black-on-black murders compared with 18 in the same period in 1999.