Anti-social e-bikes are being seized daily

Blackpool's neighbourhood policing team discuss some of the ways they are getting tough on anti-social e-bike riders

Transcript

00:00So, it can seem like sometimes they're being ignored. I can assure people they're not.

00:06And, you know, we see examples of bikes being seized daily, don't we?

00:11We will certainly target those using them to commit crime.

00:15We have even used drone technology to try and identify those that are using them off,

00:24you know, like the off-road bikes and scramblers on public fields, public parks, etc.

00:29Pursuing not only puts officers in danger, but it can also put the rider in danger.

00:33It can put other members of the public in danger by having pursuits in general.

00:37By having the drone in the air, monitoring where they end up,

00:39we can take retroactive action against dangerous driving, without due care, without insurance,

00:44still get that prosecution, still take that bike off the road.

00:47When we seize an e-scooter, an e-bike, something that isn't legal to have on the UK roads,

00:54it's almost impossible for that person to be able to get that back,

00:56because they've got to be able to show insurance to recover their vehicle.

01:01So, they're seized and they're taken off the streets, and, you know, the person won't see them ever again.

01:08We're still trying to get our heads around the best way, the safest way to tackle it,

01:13but we have had numerous successes within the Neighbourhood Team.

01:16What other police forces have also done is they've settled their own, as I call them, dirt bike teams, as such.

01:22They basically have almost like GoPros on themselves, and they video them,

01:26break off the pursuit and take that retrospective action against them.

01:29So, it sends a clear message to those criminals that, although we may not spend an hour pursuing it,

01:34we are going to take action and we have the means and the technology to do so.

01:38There's also something called Select DNA that Lancashire's looking into currently.

01:42That's been approved by the professional police bodies.

01:46The Met are currently one of the big forces that use this technology.

01:51In essence, it's a spray. You can spray at riders.

01:54It's invisible. It's just like water goes on them, but it's got a unique code to it.

02:00So, each batch of spray is different.

02:04So, what we can do is, if later on we find the offender that we believe it is,

02:08we can seize clothing, we can seize the bike, and we can match it to that canister that we previously used,

02:13which then helps us take that prosecution and say,

02:16on this date, you were sprayed whilst doing dangerous driving.

02:20We've seized this at your address.

02:22We can have that causational link between and take that action.