London police hail their expanded e-bike fleet as ‘game changer’ against theft

London's Metropolitan Police this week launched an expanded fleet of e-bikes to tackle criminals committing street crimes such as phone thefts in the British capital, with the expansion described by one senior officer as a "game changer".



The Met is deploying 20 new e-bikes, which are capable of speeds of up to 80kph and able to follow suspects off roads and even up stairs, aiming to tackle so-called snatch offences.



During a patrol on Aug 26, one Met officer hailed the impact of the new e-bikes and the force's use of drones, though he said their "regular customers" had already learned to adapt to the police's shift patterns.



The Met says the bikes have particularly helped them tackle mobile phone thefts, with statistics showing offences in the 12 months to May down from about 68,000 to 54,000.



But the number of "positive outcomes", which the Met describes as offences resulting in a caution, charge or other criminal disposal, remains below 1 per cent.