A new blog post on the 2Wheels London website has outlined how cycle enabled crime has overtaken moped enabled crime to become the bigger problem in the Capital.
The blog post – which is now available to read – has been written by Colin Brown, MAG’s director of campaign and political engagement.
The post is based on figures released by Metropolitan Police, which show that in October 2019, 354 moped related thefts were recorded – compared to 993 involving cyclists.
This is a far cry from July 2017, when moped enable crime peaked with 2,593 recorded offences – 1,815 of those being theft.
Colin hails the impact of Operation Venice – the Met’s response to scooter, motorcycle and moped-related crime, in reducing crime levels.
However, he expresses concern the figures have started heading in the wrong direction again – with the numbers steadily rising during the second half of 2019.
Despite this, he concludes that pedal cycle enabled crime is now a bigger problem in the Capital.
He writes: “We are in a situation where by October of last year there were nearly three times as many phone snatches from pedal cycles as scooters.
“Cycle enabled crime has a way to go before it reaches the epidemic levels that moped enabled crime reached in 2017, but looking at the recent trend it is clearly outstripping moped enabled crime.
“Could it follow the pattern we saw with the scooter gangs?”
24 June 2020
