Gary Mason

and tackling the violent crime that is happening now and going unchallenged with police forces giving the excuse that they lack the resources to deal with it properly.

The truth is the police service needs to be adaptable and resilient enough to deal with the challenges, take on board criticism where justified but robustly defend controversial tactics if they are deemed necessary to deal with lawlessness.

There is currently a crime wave on the streets of our largest cities involving a new type of smash and grab raid on people, vehicles and retail outlets perpetrated by offenders on mopeds. Again, this is a prime example of offenders finding new ways to target high value property and avoid detection.

The offenders typically wear balaclavas or scarves inside their motorcycle helmets which make them virtually unidentifiable if they are not physically apprehended, even in a country with more CCTV cameras in its urban areas than any other Western democracy.

The raiders also mount the pavements and alleyways with impunity – both to target their victims and escape any chasing police vehicles. There have even been cases of offenders discarding their helmets while being chased by police because they are cute enough to know that police pursuit policy dictates

HOWEVER the secret of this policing success was that the officers involved really did “know the enemy” and developed tactics that they knew would work in order to stop them.

I doubt whether many officers have a detailed knowledge of the tech savvy criminals who are finding new ways to avoid detection today.

Many of them are using smart phones which are far more advanced than those being carried by the officers who are supposed to be pursuing them.

Our police officers need to make better use of new technology to target the internet generation of criminals who are as adept at using online fraud as a way of generating illicit income as they are at using violence and intimidation on the streets.

But more importantly, more of our officers need the confidence and backing to become “good thief takers” once again.

‘There is a crime wave on our streets’

Gary Mason is author of The Official History Of The Metropolitan Police and a contributor to Policing Insight