Police knocking criminals off mopeds

"whipped her bag off her shoulder."
That's what happened to me, Jalima. In Singapore.
But that was a different situation. We used to keep a shotgun loaded with rice under the bed.

ps I should have said loaded with cartridges filled with rice.
Never had to use it TG, but if it was up to me, I wouldn't have been able to.

if I took part in an action designed to humiliate someone I believe the only person humilated by my actions would be me - we should all be much better than that and thank goodness most of us are. Humiliating someone is a form of bullying.

There should be a " nail strip " similar to what's used on the stolen car criminals.

That would require team work. I.e. numbers/resources.

Good grief Maryeliza are you for real no wonder the world's gone to pot.

In Singapore.
Goodness Fennel
there was me thinking it was one of the safest places in the world!

What on Earth are you referring to nice your post makes no sense whatsoever. And yes I’m for real whatever that means - ideas about using the stocks otoh are pure fantasy

It's the chasing at speed that worries me.

I agree, though, that something needs to be done and they deserve severe punishment.
One gang that was caught last year were quite young but were riding around wielding hammers and crowbars and driving on to the pavements in London.
Another report says they use acid, samurai swords etc.

They are known to steal the mopeds as well, from unsuspecting owners, in quite a vicious way.

It is highly organised crime with a market for expensive mobiles the motive.

It’s a great idea and about time!

I think it’s the only tactic that will work with the moped thugs, they aren’t just making off with phones and bags, they are spraying acid and attacking with hammers, knives etc and also by zig zagging off at great speeds in the city endangering anyone crossing the roads.If this stops them escalating, then fine.

I was initially concerned about the possible repercussions on the police if a moped thug was killed, but I am certain they would have weighed up the pros and cons before embarking on this.

After all it wouldn't have been a couple of young officers in a police car egging each other on would it?

Permission to do it must have come from fairly high up I would imagine. Long may it continue.

For those who are against this tactic, you need to be aware that criminals are no longer afraid of the ever diminishing numbers of police we do still have, and probably even less scared of the laughably pathetic punishments meted out by judges on the few who do get caught.

We live in very scary times.

Of course it does rather beg the question as to why we have an ever decreasing number of police officers- I expect the wicked witch from the west spirited them away

I was hoping to see some money in the budget given to the police but sadly that didn't happen.

It didn happen as you say and as a result of a deliberate politically motivated belief in the importance of not raising taxes which could have been used to improve our public services- that’s more than sad.

Our politicians do not need to worry about cuts; whichever party is in power you can almost guarantee that they are protected 24/7 (not unreasonably given the lunatics about- but hey, who needs a police force in those pretty safe circumstances?) They are also more than likely to have private medicine and schools; not all, I am well aware, but enough to ensure that there can be a fairly blase attitude to the NHS , teacher shortages, budget cuts in schools and diminishing numbers of police on the streets.

MaryEliza54 what would be your idea of punishment ? Always supposing that this crime doesn't happen to you ?

Of course it does rather beg the question as to why we have an ever decreasing number of police officers

Crime rate goes down - police budget goes down
Crime rate goes up again - police budget goes up (or should in theory)

This yo-yoing just does not work.

here's a bit more about how it works:
fullfact.org/crime/police-funding-up-down/

Of course, knocking gangs of criminals off mopeds could be quite cost-effective.

EV I thought this thread was about knocking them off their mopeds - how a suspect is apprehended is not supposed to be part of the punishment. Once apprehended, I accept the rule of law and due process. Whether it’s happened to me is irrelevant - personal feelings don’t and shouldn’t dictate public policy. I haven’t actually said what I think about the knocking them off but I did say that suggestions of bringing back the stocks was plain ridiculous. FWIW I heard a police officer talking about the police officers who are authorised to do this and it was reassuring. There’s a lot of judgement calls in deciding on this course of action - not least dangers to other road users and pedestrians as we see with police pursuits of car drivers. There is also the deterrent effect to consider.

At least they catch the culprit red-handed, probably with the loot from the crime on them.

It could save a lot of foot-slogging police time.

Sorry maryeliza but it’s mambypamby attitudes like yours towards the criminal and no understanding of how victims feel (or their family if killed) that has allowed these thugs to get away with it for so long.

Let the police get on with their jobs in the best way they can. I’m normally a very liberal-minded individual but when I see these mini thugs cocking a snoop at the law and getting away with murder (literally) then my attitude hardens.

Fud you read my post anja? Or perhaps you just didn’t understand it? What’s namby pamby about believing in the rule of law and due process or in having properly trained and authorised police officers involved in the activity of knocking suspects off their mopeds? Or thinking that a call to the return of the use of stocks is tidiculous. And don’t lecture me about how victims feel - you have no idea of my experiences of that.

The Police use a stinger to try and catch the moped riders. Presumably the mopeds would be going quite a speed when the stinger is thrown across the road to stop them. Is that a bad idea too?

Those who feel concerned about this policy are not namby-pamby and it cannot be assumed that they do not understand victimhood.

The two have no correlation - how we deal with criminals as a society is part of who we are as a nation.

I think I was mistaking you for another poster maryeliza apologies.