Children as young as 12 were targeted in police raids today in a massive crackdown on a £28 million racket in the theft of motorbikes and mopeds in London. Police launched a pan-London operation against motorcycle theft with figures revealing more than 9,500 bikes were stolen in the capital last year - or 27 each day. Scotland Yard said there had been a 31 per cent surge in thefts of bikes and mopeds - with criminals stealing machines to commit crimes such as smash and grab raids and mobile phone snatches. Officers said children as young as 11 were involved in moving stolen mopeds around London to avoid detection by police. One group being targeted including several children of school age.
Detective Superintendent Raffaele D’Orsi, who is leading the operation, said : “We recorded more than 9,000 offences last year which is a massive number and equates to a total of around £28 million a year in stolen mopeds and motorcycles. Around 50 per cent of these are never recovered.
Too little Too late for me, but good to see they are now starting to realise how much of a problem it is. Hopefully they get a good percentage of them locked up. Doubt they will ever get the proper big time ones who steal to order, but getting the opportunist thiefs off the street is a brilliant start
If the Scum bags weren’t doing anything wrong in the first place the police wouldn’t have had to chase them, and if they had stopped when told too they would still be alive today, so in my eyes the Police are doing nothing wrong and should continue as they are!!!
I hate it when a Scum bag dies and then the whole country are up in arms about it cos he died at the hands of the police, are all these people seriously condoing the likes of Mark Duggan carrying a Gun? is that OK to do but the police aren’t allowed to act on it??
Don’t blame The Fuzz for doing their job. If your house was burgled, or your mother or son, or kid sister was mugged, and the culprits fled on motorcycles, how would you feel if the police replied, “Well we’re not allowed to crash them as that could incite them to ride faster and have an accident. Criminals have the rights too.”? Chase them, catch them, nick them, throw them in a cell and drag them before a court the next working day.
If I see a blue flashing light, I always pull over.
I think there should be far more police on motorbikes in cities. There are too mnay criminals on mopeds/scooters/ptw, and let’s face it, it’s usually only a bike cop that can catch up with them.
I think there should be far more police on motorbikes in cities. There are too mnay criminals on mopeds/scooters/ptw, and let's face it, it's usually only a bike cop that can catch up with them.
Aceman
Wished I'd had a 990 then, no problem with bollards then :)
What a load of BS, someone dies escaping from police and it’s their fault? whaaaat? Here is an idea. Maybe stop running and endangering yourself and others. Coppers are just doing their job as any other person. I agree it’s different when cops in USA shoot unarmed people just because they ASSUME they MIGHT have a gun. But this situation is totally different. They commit a crime and run. iT’s not like they have stolen an apple from the market because they were hungry and living on the street.
I agree it should start with crime prevention. Youth should understand what consequences are awaiting if they commit crime and try to escape. They should understand and know it is not something they can get away with.
> What a load of BS, someone dies escaping from police and it's their fault?
No. Somebody dies as a result of police actions and the police are required to check if they could have prevented that death.
Big Red S
Scenario 1: So a call comes in about a moped involved in a e.g a robbery where someone gets stabbed, patrol car see's moped and requests moped to stop. Moped makes off so police pursue it, rider has no helmet on and due
to ‘policy’ has to end pursuit. Robbery victim dies police and get’s the blame from the media and the victims family.
Scenario 2: So a call comes in about a moped involved in a e.g a robbery where someone gets stabbed, patrol car see’s moped and requests moped to stop. Moped makes off so police pursue it, rider has no helmet on police
ignore policy and continue pursuit. Moped rider crashes and dies through reckless riding, police now in a world of shit. Robbery victim dies, still the media and riders family will vilify the police.
I agree it should start with crime prevention. Youth should understand what consequences are awaiting if they commit crime and try to escape. They should understand and know it is not something they can get away with.
EddieSV
Yeah, that the press will tend to complain isn’t really a novel commentary. The question here is of how acceptable it is for the police to kill suspects when trying to get them to trial.
The police didn’t kill anyone in this case as far as I can tell.
I do agree that there should be some sort of checks to ensure suitable processes etc are in place though - the American cop who rammed into a biker for no obvious reason is one example (albeit not a UK one) of how fallible humans in positions of power don’t always behave the way that they should. I think the difficult issue is deciding where the line of blame lies.
No, but that principle is the foundation of the policy that when somebody dies following contact with the police the IPCC investigate whether that was reasonable preventable, which is what seemed to be being questioned with “What a load of BS, someone dies escaping from police and it’s their fault?”.
Remember Charles Demenzes (excuse the spelling)? He fled from the police and was shot, and died. It was a case of mistaken identity, and the suspect was thought to be a terrorist that had a bomb. If it turned out that Charles was a terrorist and did have a bomb, this would have been great. But he was not a terrorist, did not have a bomb, but did not stop. If he had stopped, he would not have been shot. If memory serves correctly, he was in this country illegally at that time, so he would have been sent back to his own country. Being deported is far better than being shot, even if he had survived.
If the cops say stop, I’ll stop. I’m not a criminal, don’t do drugs, or drink & drive, so the worst that can happen to me is tollerable.
