A mega police task force designed to crush criminal activities of gangs in one state has been launched after a spate of public shootings.
Taskforce Falcon in NSW will oversee and try to bring to justice alleged criminals behind public place shootings, arson attacks and kidnappings, dating back to December.
The 150-strong taskforce, including 100 detectives, will oversee and co-ordinate more than a dozen investigations.
The ninth of those shootings came on Sunday when a driver was left fighting for life after being ambushed on a busy road in western Sydney.
"We will not tolerate these lawless thugs getting out there with their vendettas against each other and putting in danger innocent victims in our community," Police Minister Yasmin Catley told reporters on Tuesday.
"Public safety is the number one priority for the NSW police force."
In a pointed message to would-be criminals, she said, "You are going to end up in a small cell for the rest of your life."
Deputy Commissioner David Hudson explained the uptick in violence was most likely related to gang turf wars over drugs spilling out on the streets.
He vowed that any criminals, whether they played a small or large role, would be on the police's radar.
"We will pursue all those involved, whether you're staging a vehicle to be used as a getaway vehicle, steering that vehicle, where you are pulling the trigger for hire, or whether you are the person who orchestrated the contract on that individual," he said.
In the latest escalation of gangland violence on Sunday, at least one person in a Mercedes fired several rounds at a Toyota HiLux turning into a busy road in Granville, hitting the driver and front-seat passenger.
The 32-year-old driver of the ute underwent surgery and remained in a critical condition, police said on Monday, but he is unlikely to survive his multiple gunshot wounds.
Video circulating online showed the front-seat passenger, a 25-year-old lawyer, bleeding on the side of the road.
He was in a stable condition in hospital.
