Police crackdown on moped gangs ‘pushes criminals out of London and into suburbs’

A police crackdown on moped gangs has pushed crimes out of London and into the suburbs, it has been reported.

Police figures obtained by The Times showed that some areas outside the capital had seen an annual increase in moped crime of more than 700%.

In the past year, the Metropolitan Police has taken a tougher stance on moped attacks, tasking pursuit teams to ram riders and using stinger devices to stop offenders in their tracks.

At the weekend, prime minister Theresa May said she backed the new tactics in the battle against moped criminals, and Scotland Yard said moped crime had fallen by 36% in the past year.

However, while it has fallen in some areas, others have endured a huge increase in moped attacks, The Times said.

The Metropolitan Police said crimes involving mopeds, including snatch thefts, knifepoint muggings, acid attacks and smash-and-grab raids, are down from 19,455 offences in the year to October 2017 to 12,419 in the year to October 2018.

But in the west London borough of Hillingdon, there have been 122 attacks this year, compared to just 15 in the previous period, an increase of 713%.

In Ealing, there have been 228 incidents this year, compared to only 44 last year, while in Sutton the figure has jumped from 38 to 171.

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In areas such as Harrow and Brent, the number of incidents have quadrupled.

Only 11 of the 33 London boroughs reported a drop in moped-related crime.

The figures indicate that criminals have shifted their activity from central boroughs such as Hackney, Islington and Westminster to the suburbs, particularly northwest London.

In Camden, the number of incidents has fallen from 3,608 to 1,564. But in Brent there have been 276 incidents this year, compared to just 52 in the previous period.

The number of incidents in Hounslow has increased from 69 to 237.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Operation Venice is incorporated into all London boroughs.

“We have made significant inroads into tackling moped/motorcycle crime as a result of working with our partners and using a wide range of tactics across the capital to tackle offenders and offending.

“We are not complacent and realise more work needs to be done to reduce moped and motorcycle-related crime.”