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Met gets more e-motorbikes to fight phone thefts

Sonja JessupLondon home affairs correspondent
Metropolitan Police Two Metropolitan Police officers in full riding gear and helmets sit on high-powered Sur-Ron police e-bikes in a park, with the Houses of Parliament visible in the background under a clear blue sky.Metropolitan Police
The Sur-Ron bikes are being used in several inner London boroughs

The Metropolitan Police has expanded its fleet of high-powered electric motorbikes from five to 25 as part of an ongoing crackdown on phone snatchers and moped gangs across London.

The lightweight vehicles allow officers to cut through heavy traffic, navigate narrow alleyways, and ride up staircases to catch suspects fleeing areas inaccessible to police cars or motorcycles.

The force said "targeted tactics" had helped drive down phone thefts across the capital by more than 13,000 offences over the past year.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Louise Puddefoot said the e-motorbike fleet was "a powerful tool to stay one step ahead of criminals".

Metropolitan Police A line of Metropolitan Police officers riding high-powered e-motorbikes down a paved London road in single file formation, wearing full protective gear and high-visibility jackets.Metropolitan Police
The Met says its fleet is helping target those on illegal e-bikes

The expansion of the fleet of Sur-Ron bikes, which the company describes as "the original e-bike",was funded by proceeds seized from criminal assets, alongside Home Office money for specialist rider training in London's West End.

Officers are already using the fleet across central and inner London, including Westminster, Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Kensington & Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Fulham.

Two police officers with their backs to the camera sit in the front two seats of a police car as it drives through central London.
PC Mo Choudhury says it is "painful" trying to pursue e-bike phone snatchers in a car

For PC Sever Ali and PC Mo Choudhury, who were trying desperately to cut through heavy London traffic in their response car, it was clear why the new electric motorbikeswere welcome.

"It's painful," PC Choudhury told me, clearly frustrated they could not make a faster pursuit of a suspect. "See what we're up against?"

They are up against phone snatchers - often organised criminals, sometimes young teenagers - who weave through traffic on e-bikes that can reach dangerous speeds, and sometimes mount pavements to make a getaway.

The Met said its own Sur-Ron bikes had helped turn the tables on the problem, with recorded offences down.

Met Police figures indicate that, overall, neighbourhood crime across London fell by 14% in the 12 months leading to July – representing 33,000 fewer offences.

These include:

  • Thefts from the person down 24% (23,455 fewer offences)
  • Personal robberies down 11.2% (2,886 fewer offences)
  • Vehicle offences down 8% (7,336 fewer offences)

But the numbers are still high: the force's website shows more than 3,500 phone thefts recorded last month alone.

The Met is determined that the new bikes, along with other technology such as drones, will help give officers an edge on the criminals.

So far this year, the force has seized more than 2,500 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters, many of which had been modified with high-powered batteries to reach dangerous speeds.

But at the same time as the Met's bike fleet increases, officer numbers are shrinking: by more than 3,000 in the past four years.

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