PSNI chief pledges to get tougher on scramblers and says he used to authorise robbers' bikes to be rammed
The PSNI chief constable has pledged that his officers will take a tougher approach to roads offences such as the illegal riding of scramblers.
Jon Boutcher said officers are now too cautious in dealing with offenders.
He made the comments on the ‘Nolan Show’ on Monday, citing west Belfast as an area of concern in particular.
Later that day, scenes of anti-social driving unfolded in west Belfast as a crowd watched cars and bikes hold up traffic by drifting and doing doughnuts.
It all comes after a policeman’s leg was injured by a scrambler in central Belfast on Friday, as he tried to detain the rider after the bike collided with his police car.
The chief constable told the Nolan Show that “protocols and policies have emerged” to “make sure that we are not seen as the PSNI to put anybody at risk” when pursuing – adding: “I think we've got that balance wrong too often”.
He cited west Belfast in particular as a problem area, and went on to say: “I want to take far more robust, robust action with regards to those issues.”
There is “almost like a sweet spot you've got to find” where officers “deal with them in a robust way, as a deterrence”, without “overstepping and causing problems”.
He said: “What I will say policing has changed significantly.
"I used to be on a unit called the Flying Squad in London where we would deal with armed robbers.
"Armed robbers often used high-powered motor-bikes to leave a scene.
"I always authorised that motorbike to rammed at speed by our police officers. Always.
"We'd arrest them after done the robbery. There may be some injuries, but they would not commit further offences.”
This lesson was then taken on board by “the armed robbery community in London”, he said, and there are now far fewer such robberies.
However, he also said “we now have so much more sophisticated techniques” for dealing with road offenders, including gathering evidence of a crime then visiting the perpetrator later.