Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh told BuzzFeed News: "Police officers will do everything they can to stop crimes, but what they need is the protection of their senior officers and the IPCC [Independent Police Complaints Commission] that when they do pursue they will not be prosecuted.



"The legislation needs to change and management need to back their officers, so that you know you're not going to found accountable for all sorts of heinous things. They need to know they can do their job without fear or favour. Things born out of the Henry Hicks case and other cases that are ongoing leave my officers in a bit of a quandary.

"These people on these mopeds are criminals, my colleagues are not criminals, they're law abiding citizens who are carrying a warrant card and serving the Queen. They're being tried as criminals for actions they've taken and that's why they're not going to pursue people and that's why we're in the endemic situation we find now."

Marsh called for an open discussion with the IPCC, the police watchdog.

"We're not saying for one moment we shouldn't be investigated, we shouldn't be transparent – 90% of colleagues have cameras on their body, they're filming everything that's happening," he said.

"They [suspected criminals] take their crash helmets off and stick two fingers up to the police. If you want to put yourself a risk of harm, we're not the cause of that.

"My officers need to feel secure and safe to follow, pursue and take action – before that, they will not."

David Videcette, a former Met police detective with a background in fighting organised crime, told BuzzFeed News that criminals were deliberately using mopeds instead of other vehicles to carry out crimes, because they know that they are more likely to get away.



"The police are hamstrung because if they pursue these people and they fall off it's the police driver that gets prosecuted," he said.

"We've a huge problem. With the way moped and motorcycle theft has been happening in London, trying to stop all the criminality is very difficult when you can't pursue them."

Another serving officer, who BuzzFeed News has chosen not to name, said: "As soon as we turn the lights on, we're in the vicinity, we're accountable. We won't risk it if we have to face court or prison."

And a second said: "They examine what we can and do and work round it. [If they crash] we'll be blamed for that, not that they've gone out on a stolen bike. How many times do we have to be lucky? How do we trace stolen mopeds when they're wearing crash helmets, wearing gloves?

"It a social problem, what do we do? We have either an epidemic, which we have now, or a crackdown."

However, another serving officer disagreed that the rules should be changed, saying: "I don't want to be responsible for knocking one off. There's other ways to get them – wait for them to get off the moped, they will at some point. Get them when they're going into the shop for some fags."

Westminster North MP Karen Buck agreed that there may be other ways to legislate, without increasing numbers of police pursuits. She suggested one option for the government would be to look at banning mopeds from carrying pillion passengers.

She told BuzzFeed News: "Of course they are right to want clarity about the guidance, but I don't think any police want a situation that increases risk to bystanders, pedestrians, innocent people that get caught up in these chases.

"Many times these crimes are happening when there are two people riding a moped – some driving and someone doing the snatching. Should we be making it a prima facie to have two people on a moped?"

The Labour MP also said manufacturing companies should be urged to improve security in order to make bikes hard to steal.



She added: "I want to have a discussion about whether there are other ways of dealing with this, and looking at why this has happened so dramatically."

In a full statement, the London mayor's spokesperson said: “Moped crime is reckless, frightening and intimidating and will not be tolerated on the streets of London. The mayor views this crime as an extremely serious offence and fully supports the police to crackdown on perpetrators.

"The police are deploying dedicated ground operations, building intelligence on offenders, and using prevention work to make the streets hostile territory for criminals who use mopeds, motorbikes and bicycles for robberies and violence.

"It is important that the law and any guidelines protect and not hinder the police in their vital role of keeping Londoners safe, including when it comes to pursuing suspects on mopeds."