Jack Sales' Insight into e-scooter crime cited by the Guardian re new technology to combat theft
Jack Sales' Insight piece about the use of unregulated e-scooters in street crime was mentioned in a Guardian news story last week about high tech deterrent devices soon to be used by the police.
Jack highlighted that lack of regulation around owning an e-scooter has made it easier for riders to commit crimes undetected because they are not required to register their ‘vehicles’ as, say, an owner of a moped would, meaning there is no record of them.
Now, plans are afoot for police officers to be equipped with devices that fire electromagnetic rays to shut down the engine of an e-bike or e-scooter being used in a crime.
Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said the weapon was in development and is likely months away from being available.
The device, developed in conjunction with the Defence Science and Technology Lab, overseen by the Ministry of Defence, would fire an electromagnetic pulse at a vehicle that an officer wants to stop because the rider is suspected of perpetrating a crime.
The device works by tricking the engine into thinking it is overheating, which then shuts down and forces the vehicle to a stop.
The police currently struggle to prevent crimes involving e-scooters because they are so fast and manoeuvrable.