The ‘blight’ of off-road and electric bikes has ‘changed the dynamic’ for police, the top cop in charge of tackling anti-social behaviour in Greater Manchester has said.
Reports of people causing a nuisance on small motorised bikes or quad bikes, not designed to be used on the road, have gone up by 100 per cent in parts of the region, it has been revealed. There have been almost 500 reported incidents in five boroughs alone since June this year.
The fact they’re seen as ‘cool’ by a certain demographic of mostly teenagers and young men – and can be easily bought online for ‘a few hundred pounds’ – is causing cops a serious problem, a senior officer has told the Manchester Evening News.
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The question how to tackle them, with police chases often impractical or posing too big a risk to the rider and the public, is a difficult one.
But by using new and innovative tactics, including drones and a special forensic spray called SmartTag, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) says the force is beginning to get on top of the problem, with over 100 bikes taken off the road and over 50 people arrested since the summer.
Superintendent John-Paul Ruffle is GMP’s strategic lead for anti-social behaviour. Speaking during ABS awareness week, he told the M.E.N. the up to October this year the force had seen a three percent increase in reports of incidents compared to the previous 12 months, mostly for ‘rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour’.
He attributed that to groups of youngsters being more easily able to meet-up due to social media. “You no longer just hang around on a street corner… it’s far easier to pull your friends together,” he said.
Supt Ruffle said members of the public are becoming more confident and proactive in reporting issues, particular given the number of ways incidents can be reported, including Live Chat.
He said that nationally, ASB had ‘drifted somewhat off the radar’, but that GMP is ‘committed’ to reducing numbers of incidents and has focused its efforts on action.
An area in which cops use their ‘full might’ is in response to off-road bikes. Incidents have sky-rocketed. “We know from feedback from victims, and I’ve been through hundreds of incidents to review them, it causes them significant worry and concern,” Supt Ruffle said.
“It’s a danger to road users, it’s a danger to people in public space areas, the noise nuisance is infuriating.”
There have been reported 481 incidents in just Wigan, Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Bolton since June 1. The senior officer said the vehicles can be bought online for ‘several hundred pounds’.
“We can understand the allure of having a bike,” he added. “It’s always been the case, certainly in my 21-year career. I was dealing in my early days as a neighbourhood officer with kids razzing around on off-road bikes and little mini motos and stuff.
“I think it’s always been an appeal. But they used to be quite inaccessible. Whereas now, access is very easy. You can go on any of the big retailers, you can go on sites across the world, and ship these products in and there’s very little by way of licensing and there’s very little way of due diligence when they’re coming into the country.
“Not all of them are road safe, not all of them are legal, so I think accessibility is a key thing. The perception of the young people is it probably that it seems cool to ride around on them. They see the clips on social media.
“Part of our role is to educate them around road safety making sure you know we’ve had multiple fatals involving individuals on these type of bikes – not just in Manchester but across the country.”
Asked if it had changed the dynamic for officers, Supt Ruffle said: “Yes it absolutely has. Certainly the electric bike. Because the typical complaints used to be about loud motocross bikes which you could hear them from miles away.
“But now you’ve got silent bikes effectively that can drive at significant speeds and acceleration.” This summer an operation was launched to tackle the issue, with 125 bikes seized and 59 arrests made.
There have also been 41 section 59 warnings issued. If a driver receives one of the warnings, and is dealt with again for anti-social use of a vehicle within 12 months, police can seize a vehicle.
Anti-social behaviour is considered a ‘gateway’ into other, often more serious crime. The issue of bikes is no different, Supt Ruffle said. “We’ve arrested individuals for dangerous driving [and] they’re linked to other criminality.
“So it’s not just about the perception of the public, that it’s young people on bikes, we’re also targeting a lot of adults, teenagers and people using bikes inappropriately “
Although often difficult, ‘sometimes a pursuit is necessary’, the top cop said, adding: “But our primary objective is to avoid a pursuit where we can using preventive methods.
“A key part has been GMP’s investment into a refreshed bike unit, where we’ve got access to our own electric bikes we’ve got access to on and off-road bikes. We’re also drawing down on other technologies so we use the drone, the helicopter and the plane.
“We want to make sure that we’re as safe as we can be for the public and for the rider so that’s where the air assets help
A special ‘tagging spray’ was also now being more readily deployed. “That’s effectively a DNA spray you can only see under UV,” he added. “It stays on for four weeks and that’s been a more preventative method.
“So while we might not be able to catch them there and then, we have had the opportunity to go to their house and we check it under UV light and if the bike’s been sprayed, we know who and what it’s been connected to.”
Around 99 per cent of the bikes officers seized never make it back to their owner, Supt Ruffle said. “They have to be legitimately licensed, they have to be appropriately registered and we need to see proof of insurance before release and in the vast majority of the ones that were seized over the summer, as you can imagine, they were not forthcoming,” he added. “It is very difficult – and deliberately so.”
