The Metropolitan Police is reporting success with its new ‘tactical contact’ strategy to combat moped crime. This year, 40% of police pursuits involved mopeds and scooters – a significant increase from 24% in 2017. So, the Met has incorporated a strategy of ‘tactical contact’ to help solve and prevent moped crimes.
The vast majority of these ‘moped crimes’ are thefts, with thieves grabbing small personal belongings such as mobile phones. Then, they’re able to take off via moped.
What is Met Police Tactical Contact?
Simply put, this strategy involves using police cars to tactically ram mopeds during pursuit – usually causing the moped rider(s) to come off the vehicle. This means that Met Police Tactical Contact can bring an end to a pursuit in a shorter space of time, and are less likely to lose the escaping vehicle through narrow alleyways or backstreets. Officers are expected to judge every situation individually to ensure that tactical contact is the best option. Therefore, there may be instances where officers do not deem it safe, appropriate, or necessary to use tactical contact.
Until recently, the Met has been reluctant to directly contact escaping mopeds, since hitting them with a vehicle could result in injury or death. However, the consequences of implementing the Met Police Tactical Contact strategy have been a reduction in moped crimes. Maybe criminals wishing to steal from others are thinking twice before hopping on a scooter.
What’s the Result of the Met Police Tactical Contact?
So far, the Met is reporting a 36% decrease in thefts on mopeds and scooters. It’s believed that this increase is a result of the use of tactical contact. Some officers are reporting that thieves are surprised by the Met’s willingness to ram them. So, this is possibly making others reconsider before they use a moped to commit crimes.
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