Several police cars hit the roads of Sydenham, Taylors Lakes, Keilor Park and Delahey last Thursday night, looking for people driving irresponsibly. They didn't need to look too far with 17 drivers prosecuted for a number of offences.

Sergeant Rod Stein said his unit often performed such operations.

"We were out and about trying to catch those acting irresponsibly and we found them," he said.

Police interrupted a large gathering of people in cars on a street in Keilor Park.

"They were surprised to see us and we quickly dispersed them all; we also fined a few," Sergeant Stein said.

Of the 17, one driver was caught driving while disqualified and four were speeding, the worst being 30kmh over the limit.

One driver was caught after going through a red light and five had unregistered vehicles. The others were minor offences.

Two cars were also seized under anti-hoon legislation.

"This was about the amount of fines we expected to hand out; we were out there looking for them," Sergeant Stein said. "It's all about trying to to stop this behaviour and letting the hoons know we can and will pop up unexpectedly."

Janae Houghton