to think that Labour's stance on moped ramming is stupid

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The Metropolitan Police have been knocking over moped muggers with their cars, and releasing the footage as a deterrent. It's a fantastic idea which has cut moped crime dramatically.

Predictably, the Shadow Home Secretary has said 'it shouldn't be legal for anyone'.

Why is Labour's instinct always to side with the scumbag criminals over the victims, the police and the decent people?

Of course when people run out of arguments against this they bring in "way-cism"

There have been serious injuries and even death suffered by the victims of the moped crimes. There have been no serious injuries to the moped muggers to date inflicted by their tactic of ramming. How can this not be sensible?

^^THIS

And yet miscible that article is from last year so obviously they have since changed tactics for whatever reason.

How would innocent people be hurt by this? Innocent people would just... stop the moped. Get off. Ask what it was about.

I mean, if you're so oblivious that you don't notice the police car following you, flashing lights at you, signalling you to pull over then you shouldn't be on the bike in the first place.

this tactic has actually been around for yonks - its called tactical contact and is perfectly legal - police drivers who do this are trained to a very high level and will not be running people over willy nilly. they use the car to stop the pursuit - thats all - they dont plough over the rider .

in my force area police were stopped from even pursuing motorbikes or mopeds at one point - thankfully common sense prevailed when the number of crimes involving them spiked due to the little darlings knowing police basically had their hands tied if they used 2 wheels and not 4.

if you dont commit crime using a moped you have nothing to worry about do you!

As a rule I disagree with anything Abbott says so...

copper

I’m assuming, username and all, that you’re a police officer. Without giving any identifying detail, how bad is the moped gang problem where you are?

kissing I know you have asked Cooper but for my area (Scottish area) it’s non existent.

AtlasShrugged you've not heard the worst yet ... I'm only awaiting the arrival of the poster who turns up on every thread like this, suggesting that all police are irredeemably racist and that they can do absolutely nothing right

moped crime and motorbike usage among criminals is rife from armed robbery to acid attacks and gang related crime. also lower level anti social stuff but you wouldnt touch them for that

when any police pursuit is ongoing you must give the control room commentary and a dynamic risk assessment at all times which is continuous and ongoing.
if it gets too dangerous the pursuit can be called off or you can call it off yourself.

for too long criminals have thought 2 wheels is a way of evading the law.

jasjas1973 I think the criminal loses their human rights, if they carry out any criminal act, you should be more worried about the rights of the victims

Nicknacky

Where I am (SE England) the police are putting out warnings and stills from CCTV footage of wanted moped criminals as fast as they can.

police tactics are always changing. but this is one i like - it sends a very clear message.

most forces now have dash cam - please be clear - the police are not out to injure the rider - they are out to stop the pursuit and detain the jolly nice chap riding the moped/bike.

when your relative or loved one has been robbed, bag snatched, stabbed or attacked with acid please advice how you would like the suspect stopping if they are on a moped or motorbike. id be all ears.

Well personally I'm all for it, and the fact that Abbott is opposed only makes me approve more.

This isn't an issue of Human rights (which btw are by definition applicable to everyone and cannot be surrendered), having your moped rammed by the Police after failing to stop doesn't infringe any Human rights.

kissing I’m not even aware of it being a major issue in Glasgow. I’m searching my brain for an incident involving a moped or scooter but can’t think of any and I cover a large area. Obviously we have anti social behaviour issues but nothing on this scale.

Maybe our criminals are too stupid to work out how to turn on a moped😂

How would innocent people be hurt by this?

There is a small chance that the scooter riding criminal scumbag, having been nudged by a police car, could lose control and crash into an innocent person. But given the horrendous effect on innocent people so far by doing nothing, it's a chance worth taking.

If any innocents are injured, it'll be a far lower number than before this tactic was adopted.

I think the criminal loses their human rights, if they carry out any criminal act, you should be more worried about the rights of the victims

Hesta we’re on the same side. But that’s wrong. We don’t imprison without proper trial or throw the convicted away forever.

Suspects have rights and convicts have rights.

The rights don’t extend to not being knocked off their mopeds though.

Hest54 a terrible attitude and doesn't protect the rights of the victim at all.
They remain human beings, capable of changing their behavior, which should be the primary aim of Prison, unfortunately because of unthinking idiots who view criminals as sub human, rehab doesn't happen and these people leave prison, intent on more crime and more victims.

Why don't you campaign to have criminals gassed?

KissingInTheRain

Out of interest, if gangs start using more powerful and faster scooters, (the 250cc ones that can do 70mph)

Do you think the Police should attempt to knock them off at high speeds too? say 50mph or more?

Er, you don’t “know” they’re criminals until they’ve been convicted...

pretty sure if you see them mug someone, they're a criminal no matter how they plea in court.

sorry but failure to stop for a police officer is a crime in itself so the minute a pursuit begins a crime has been committed and the witness is a police officer!

if someone fails to stop they have a reason for doing so. they dont want to get caught.
so should we just give carte blanche to any criminal who chooses to use a moped or bike? do we just let them go and concentrate on criminals who use cars?

for a long time my force did just that and guess what happened!???
if you are a criminal, carrying out criminal acts, then you should expect to be caught no matter what mode of transport you use.

jasjas

That depends on how fast they’re going at the time, what else is around, and so on. I don’t think any suspect in or on any vehicle should assume they can’t be rammed by the police.

I agree that high speed collisions ought to be very strongly justifiable.

A woman standing next to me had her phone taken by a scooter man with a gun. She was lucky that she didn’t try to fight back or I’m petty sure they’d be had not problems in hurting her. This was over the summer when there were loads of the scooter rats out and about. Some people were stabbed / had axid thrown over them.

If someone is driving erratically they need to be stopped as soon as possible as there is the risk that they will injure or kill someone else.

(I say they because there were 2 scooters - with wallow rallies - with a rider and passenger on each).