Police will use a series of high-tech non lethal weapons to deal with future street gang violence following the weekend’s wild brawls in Collingwood involving up to 200 people.

The new get-tough strategy comes after police were criticised for not taking stronger action at Sunday morning’s brawl in Mater Street that left six people injured, and following another ugly incident weeks earlier involving up to 100 youths in Taylors Hill.

It comes after criticism in the 48 hours following the Collingwood melee police's handling of the incident, during which violence broke after more than 200 people spilt out of a record launch at the Gasometer hotel, and errors including mistakenly stating a teenager had lost his leg.

Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has effectively issued a public warning to brawlers they will face new tactics that will be ‘‘quite confronting’’.