Police adopt new tactics to tackle moped thieves after rise in violent crime

Police will continue to pursue escaping moped thieves, even if they take off their helmets, Britain's top police officer has warned.

Scotland Yard Commissioner Cressida Dick said: "We haven't reduced pursuits. There are a lot of myths around this. People think if they take off their helmets we will stop, but that's not true.

"We have more than doubled the number of pursuits and that will continue, particularly with the introduction of new bikes."

Ms Dick was speaking as the Metropolitan Police revealed new tactics against moped thieves which they said had already cut the level of a crime that has rocketed in the past two years.

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The theft of mopeds and their use in snatching mobile phones or spraying acid on victims has helped to fuel what Ms Dick said was "a trend, not a spike" in violent crime.

Officers have been issued with new, faster and lighter motorbikes on which to pursue suspects. Crucially, the new bikes have no bulky panniers which have, in the past, stopped pursuits along very narrow streets.

Police have been issued with remote-controlled "pro-spikes" which shoot out rows of metal spikes to puncture suspects' tyres, like the "stingers" used to stop cars.

And a new tagging spray, with a unique DNA code, is being used on suspects and their mopeds so they can be linked forensically to their crimes.

The force claims that in the past three months the new tactics have reduced moped thefts by 25% and moped-enabled crime by 24%.

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It said moped thefts had increased dramatically in the past two years: in October, 2015, thieves stole 1,009 mopeds in the capital. In April this year they stole 1,598, a rise of 60%.

Police said some suspects had told them they practised their crime, riding up to victims and snatching their phones.

iPhones were the most popular target and, if stolen in use and unlocked, could be wiped, reprogrammed and sold on the black market for £200.

Such attacks were almost always carried out by two people on one bike, with the pillion passenger snatching the phone.

I asked the Commissioner what thought she had given to lobbying MPs for a change in the law, to ban pillion passengers.

She hesitated and said: "I haven't given it any thought. It sounds a bit extreme."