Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Police vow reckless riders will be caught
behaviour causes alarm, annoyance and danger to the public and will not be tolerated.”
He was speaking after officers responded to 20 calls about the problem last week. Two bikes have been seized in the past two days.
Police are trying to track the offenders who dumped the machines and ran away.
Mr Haigh said: “Given the risks which some of these bike riders are willing to take, it makes stopping and arresting them safely at the time quite challenging.
“It can take numerous police units to achieve a successful and safe conclusion.”
He added: “Police resources can be stretched and this type of selfish and irresponsible behaviour takes us away from what we could be doing to help other people.”
He said police in the north of the city have traced and reported 16 people to the procurator fiscal in the last few months, using targeted CCTV, intelligence gathering and other methods to identify individuals.
Plain-clothes officers are also working in problem areas, alongside specialist teams.
“It is our intention to seek criminal Asbos against these 16 in addition to any successful prosecution,” he said.
Education is another tactic and the plan is for community officers to go into schools and colleges once Covid restrictions allow.
Mr Haigh also asked the public to help police to trace offenders.
“By reporting incidents to us members of the public may prevent someone from being seriously injured,” he said.
Councillor Keenan said it was an issue of concern to residents in his ward and welcomed previous police activity, such as leaflet drops in the St Mary’s area.
He said: “Police also told me they had developed significant local community intelligence on those using scrambler bikes, with those prolific offenders being targeted with the provision of Asbo warnings, seizing bikes, charging offenders and working closely with the council antisocial teams to disrupt their behaviour.”