The moped and scooter crime wave that has swept London

[Serpha]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40731485

Offences involving scooters and mopeds have rocketed in London, but the epidemic is yet to spread to the rest of the UK.
In one incident on a Friday night, earlier this month, a heavily pregnant woman became a victim of moped criminals.
In a terrifying attack that took only a few seconds, the 31-year-old mother-to-be was knocked to the ground after thieves mounted the pavement from behind her to snatch a mobile phone out of her hand.
I witnessed the aftermath of the attack in north London from an open window of a restaurant a few yards away. I heard the woman's scream and saw her on the floor, but by the time I'd dialled 999 the two robbers had sped off.
The incident, in East Finchley, a relatively low-crime area towards the southern end of the London borough of Barnet, provided further evidence of the spread of the "moped" crime wave.
(The Metropolitan Police refer to the "step-through-frame" motorcycles commonly used as scooters - mopeds are strictly speaking a subset of scooters, with an engine capacity of less than 50cc).
There are two parts to the crime wave - the theft of the scooters themselves and the offences for which they are used.
The Met says that between July 2016 and June 2017 there were 14,943 thefts of "powered two-wheel vehicles", the vast majority of which were scooters.
The total represents more than 50% of all vehicles stolen in London and is up almost 30% on the previous year.
The calendar year figures show the number of thefts has almost doubled since 2013, though the proportion recovered has increased as well.

It also appears to be a problem largely confined to the capital.
Police in Merseyside and Greater Manchester have set up special teams to combat the illegal use of off-road, or scrambler, bikes, particularly in relation to anti-social behaviour, but none of the major forces we spoke to across Britain flagged scooter theft as a concern on the scale seen in London.
According to the Motorcycle Industry Association, about 60% of all recorded bike thefts in the UK were in London last year, yet just under 10% of all motorcycles and mopeds licensed in the UK were registered to those living in the city.
The number of such offences recorded by police in London has more than trebled in a year.
In the 12 months to the end of June, the Metropolitan Police logged 16,158 crimes involving powered-two-wheel vehicles compared with 5,145 the year before.
Most of the offences were robbery and theft, with mobile phones making up 90% of items stolen. Phones can be reset within minutes and sold on, or used by gang members who like to have a handful of devices each.

It's just one side of crime infested London. Things are getting out of hand and Police is doing fuck all. I have seen them in action many times and I'm sick of it. While this isn't new, the new thing is them carrying acid and randomly throwing it at people.

[I Push Buttons]

This is embarrassing.

The risks were brought home last year during the inquest into the death of 18-year-old Henry Hicks, who lost control of his moped and crashed after being pursued by two unmarked police cars in north London in December 2014.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which investigated the case, said police had "conducted a pursuit without authorisation from a senior officer in the control room" and had failed to "consider the risks to Henry of the pursuit or make any consideration as to whether he may have been a juvenile". Four officers are to face gross misconduct proceedings.

After the case, Scotland Yard issued a reminder to officers about the potential hazards of such pursuits and said it had developed new tactics - including the use of tyre-deflation devices. But there's believed to be a sense among scooter thieves that police have become more cautious about following them at speed.

"People are very well aware of the police tactics, therefore they're picking out vehicles... on the assumption that they're unlikely to be caught," says Daniel Silverstone, director of the Liverpool Centre for Advanced Policing Studies, who's carrying out research on scooter criminals.

"They're deliberately taking their helmets off, so they can't be pursued," he says, claiming police will call off a chase if they know a suspect is more at risk of a head injury.

[Mormolyce]

I wouldn't worry about it.


https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...-2015-rises-11

Small potatoes versus the overall trend. Also the UK has about 1/4 the homicide rate of the US.

[Deleted]

London is hardly a British city anymore.

Between the rich Russians and Arabs living on one side and the poor immigrants living on the other, gangs are eventually going to play an increasingly bigger role in London.

[Deleted]

Also the UK has about 1/4 the homicide rate of the US.

Not entirely relevant in this case as acid attacks aren't homicides. Thread is about increased crime rates, not specifically homicide.

[MonsieuRoberts]

Sell your moped and never leave the flat again. Soblem prolved. You can always order curry & Jaffas.

[s_bushido]

It's just one side of crime infested London. Things are getting out of hand and Police is doing fuck all. I have seen them in action many times and I'm sick of it.

lol So what do you think, that the existence of police means that crime can't happen, or that it can't fluctuate?

[Findlyn]

Not entirely relevant in this case as acid attacks aren't homicides. Thread is about increased crime rates, not specifically homicide.

Also lets not mention the fact the way homicides reported in England is different than the US. In the US, all homicides are reported; this includes suicides and justified homicides(self defense/cops shooting someone in line of duty). They only report homicides of convicted cases. At least that is how it was like 4 or 5 years ago when I wrote a report on gun crimes in the US.

IIRC, the UK had approximately the same violent crime rates, and had a lot more instances of stabbings/beatings with blunt objects/etc.

[Serpha]

lol So what do you think, that the existence of police means that crime can't happen, or that it can't fluctuate?

I don't know what are you trying to say. What I was saying is that I witnessed first hand many times how useless police is, they are not even chasing them anymore and it's getting worse.

[Mormolyce]

Not entirely relevant in this case as acid attacks aren't homicides. Thread is about increased crime rates, not specifically homicide.

The crime rate is above it, the homicide rate is just for context.

[Mormolyce]

England and Wales just seen the biggest jump in recorded crime in a decade.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017...l-rise-decade/
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...me-in-a-decade

10 per cent

Kek.

Also year to year fluctuations are high so it's silly to draw conclusions from anything less than say 5-10 years.

[Daedius]

*Imagines The Italian Job redone with Mopeds instead of Minis*

[Doctor Amadeus]

Really like this? If so mind blown.

[Ehrenpanzer]

Really like this? If so mind blown.

Dunno... dont think I could take a criminal seriously if they rode this around

[Doctor Amadeus]

Dunno... dont think I could take a criminal seriously if they rode this around

He looks like Stephan Curry and very very serious




Ask Labron

[Mormolyce]

Aye maybe so, but when times are shit crime increases and believe me, times are shit on these shores atm and only set to plummet from here.

You know what they say about anecdotal evidence.

[Djuntas]

Ah yes...Living in the big city. So good life. Shall never understand why people would willing choose to live in big rural cities...Everything cost more, and its all a worser exsperience.

[Tackhisis]

That's what uncontrollable migration and playing with a demon gives you.

[Najnaj]

Given that there are a lot of e-bikes around today and there wasn't a few years back..... Does anyone really find this surprising?

[Deleted]

Ah yes...Living in the big city. So good life. Shall never understand why people would willing choose to live in big rural cities...Everything cost more, and its all a worser exsperience.

Some might say that these things are "part and parcel of living in a big city".