Officers who pursue moped thugs will get legal protection
POLICE will get stronger legal protection to let them chase moped criminals without fear, the Home Secretary pledged.
Amber Rudd has vowed there ‘will be change’ to ensure officers cannot be taken to court if there is a crash.
Police claim they are hindered by rules which state they can only chase marauding moped and motorbike gangs if the safety risk is proportionate to the crime.
Officers are following an ‘unwritten’ health and safety rule that means their career is at risk if they endanger the thugs by pursuing them.
The Mail has highlighted how thugs aged as young as 14 disguise their faces with masks
and use stolen scooters to terrorise communities because police are often unable or unwilling to give chase.
A Home Office review of the law surrounding pursuits will be completed early next year, and yesterday Miss Rudd told police chiefs and crime commissioners she would take steps to protect officers.
She said: ‘You said that officers have concerns about pur- suing and apprehending moped-riding criminals ... We’ve listened and are taking action.
‘I don’t want any officer to feel that they cannot pursue someone ... We will always support the police and officers, not the criminals who commit these awful crimes.’
In the year to September there were more than 19,385 ‘moped enabled’ crimes in the capital, an average of 53 a day.