For PC Sever Ali and PC Mo Choudhury, who were trying desperately to cut through heavy London traffic in their response car, it was clear why the new electric motorbikes were welcome.
“It’s painful,” PC Choudhury told me, clearly frustrated they could not make a faster pursuit of a suspect. “See what we’re up against?”
They are up against phone snatchers – often organised criminals, sometimes young teenagers – who weave through traffic on e-bikes that can reach dangerous speeds, and sometimes mount pavements to make a getaway.
The Met said its own Sur-Ron bikes had helped turn the tables on the problem, with recorded offences down.
Met Police figures indicate that, overall, neighbourhood crime across London fell by 14% in the 12 months leading to July – representing 33,000 fewer offences.
These include:
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Thefts from the person down 24% (23,455 fewer offences)
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Personal robberies down 11.2% (2,886 fewer offences)
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Vehicle offences down 8% (7,336 fewer offences)
But the numbers are still high: the force’s website shows more than 3,500 phone thefts recorded last month alone.
The Met is determined that the new bikes, along with other technology such as drones, will help give officers an edge on the criminals.
So far this year, the force has seized more than 2,500 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters, many of which had been modified with high-powered batteries to reach dangerous speeds.
But at the same time as the Met’s bike fleet increases, officer numbers are shrinking: by more than 3,000 in the past four years.
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