Why moped crime is surging

Comedian Michael McIntyre was robbed by moped-riding criminals
yesterday while collecting his children from school.

The 42-year-old TV personality was waiting in his car near the
school, in Golder’s Green, north London, when the windows of the
black Range Rover were smashed and he was reportedly forced to hand
over his Rolex watch.

According to The Sun, McIntyre’s agent confirmed: “Michael
was involved in an incident involving armed robbers. He is
absolutely fine and helping police with their inquiries.”

The Metropolitan Police appealed for witnesses, adding: “The
victim was stationary in his car when two males on a moped smashed
the car windows with a hammer before stealing property. No injuries
were reported. No arrests have been made. Enquiries continue.”

The incident is the latest in a spate of moped-related crime.
Last year the Met reported that “gangs of youths were using stolen
scooters, mopeds, motorcycles and bikes to commit tens of thousands
of snatch offences across London”, says the London Evening Standard.

Research by Catch 22, a
charity that works with former gang members, has found that moped
criminals can make as much as £300 in a matter of minutes.

“People we’ve spoken to see this as almost a victimless crime
and they don’t believe the police care about it,” Catch 22 director
Beth Murray told The Guardian. “It’s done by 14- or 15-year-olds
who are proving themselves. They stick to their own patch because
they know the streets, or they’ll go to the West End (of London),
because there will be more tourists and richer people with better
phones.”

Why the sudden rise in moped crime?

There are a number of reasons for the increase in these types of
crimes, argues James Treadwell, a professor in criminology at
Staffordshire University, in an article on The Conversation. “While the [mobile phone]
industry did much to stop the theft of phone handsets a few years
ago, demand for parts such as screens and batteries has made phones
worth stealing again,” he writes.

Scooters and mopeds “often have woefully bad security”, making
them “easy pickings for determined offenders”, Treadwell adds.

“What’s really changed is the method,” says Superintendent Mark
Payne, who runs Operation Venice, the Met’s response to moped,
scooter and motorcycle crime.

“In the past it was done on foot or with bicycles. What they
[thieves] have caught on to is that mopeds and scooters are just
really easy to steal,” Payne told The Guardian.

The Met’s budget has also fallen by 20% in real terms since
2010, and the force is facing further cuts, “a situation that Sadiq
Khan, the mayor of London, has blamed for a recent rise in violent
crime, after years of falling offences”, says the Financial Times.

What are the statistics?

In Liverpool, Manchester and other northern towns, police teams
have been struggling to combat the use of off-road bikes linked to
anti-social behaviour, shootings and drug dealing.

But London remains the epicentre of the crime wave, with “moped
crimes ranging from bike thefts, mobile phone snatches, acid
attacks and violent attacks on stores and cafes, often involving
hammers, knives, and other weapons”, says the i newspaper. “In 2015 the Metropolitan Police
logged 4,647 such crimes, but in the year from June 2016 to 2017,
they recorded a staggering 16,158 crimes.”

What’s being done to combat the crimewave?

Met police are focusing on a two-pronged solution to the
problem.

One is making mopeds harder to steal. “Like bicycles, cheap
mopeds need to be chained to steel posts,” says The Guardian, a
point that the Met has been emphasising in its “Be Safe” campaign.

Meanwhile, the Government has introduced new legislation
designed to give police pursuit drivers more legal protection if
they are involved in a crash.

The new proposals “aim to smash the ‘myth’ that officers cannot
pursue riders who are not wearing helmets”, reports the BBC.

“Criminals must not think they can get away with a crime by
riding or driving in a certain way,” Minister for Policing Nick
Hurd said.

New technological policing aids are also being trialled, with
tablet computers being used by officers on the beat to predict
where moped crime will happen, “based on records of previous crime
spots, and the times of offences”, says the Financial Times.