Moped gangs ditch helmets so police won’t chase them
Robbers exploit ‘health and safety rule’
MOPED robbery gangs are throwing off helmets to escape being chased by police.
Officers are following an ‘unwritten’ health and safety rule that means their career is at risk if they endanger the thugs by pursuing them.
Dozens of officers are already being investigated for their driving during chases.
As a result, Britain faces an epidemic of ‘pavement pirates’ who believe they are untouchable.
The Daily Mail can reveal the phenomenon is partly responsible for the first upturn in vehicle thefts for 20 years.
Police figures show 92,868 vehicles were stolen in England and Wales last year, a rise of 16 per cent from 80,066 the previous year.
Senior officers are concerned that while mopeds and motorbikes make up 4 per cent of vehicles on the road, they account for 34 per cent of those stolen – and are often used to commit more crime.
Gangs as young as 14 are using powerful motorbikes, often stolen and with no number plates, to run rings around police. In many cases the mobs wield weapons to stop have-a-go heroes intervening.
More than 11,389 motorbike incidents, including thefts, robberies and acid attacks, took place in London alone last year.
Stemming the tide is top of the Metropolitan Police agenda. But frontline officers complain they are often unable to act, even if they catch moped thieves redhanded. This is because only a small number of highly-trained officers are allowed to give chase, especially if suspects are not wearing protective equipment.
A 42-year-old nurse in Clapham, south-west London, said officers told her there was nothing they could do after four men tried to steal her boyfriend’s moped.
‘The police came and they could have caught them,’ she said. ‘But they said they are not allowed to chase them because it was not a serious crime … in case they fall off and hurt themselves. This is apparently the policy. The police said it is really frustrating … This explains why the thieves were so brazen.’
Police have been put in the dock for ‘dangerous driving’ when chasing suspects using blue lights and a siren offers no protection from prosecution. They want a change in the law so high levels of training are taken into account instead of officers being ‘hung out to dry’ through the courts.
Chiefs say they use other tactics to track moped gangs, including cameras, number plate recogni- tion and forensics. But they face a lack of evidence left by masked criminals who wear gloves and use stolen machines.
Ex-Met detective David Videcette said some highly trained drivers can pursue mopeds but the chances of being in the right place at the right time are ‘remote’.
He added: ‘The lads behind these crimes know full well if they don’t have a crash helmet they are unlikely to be pursued … that is why the crime figures have gone through the roof. It is not the officers’ fault, it is the rules and procedures they work within.’
Advances in security technology have caused a long-term decrease in vehicle thefts – from almost 600,000 in 1993 to under 93,000 last year. But police are concerned at the recent uptick in such offences.
South Wales Police Deputy Chief Constable Matthew Jukes, who is responsible for tackling vehicle crime nationwide, said motorbikes are stolen because they can be easily ‘lifted up and taken away’.
He said another contributing factor was that there are simply many more vehicles on the road.
Professor David Wilson, a criminologist at Birmingham City University, said: ‘Mopeds have become much more commonplace … which means their accessibility to potential thieves has increased.’