Introduction
The aim of the current study is to establish the extent to which mopped mugged has increased in the United Kingdom, focusing on four case studies (major cities in the country). Traditionally, the police have been fighting crimes, such as gun violence, because it was considered the worst type of crime. According to Kleck (2015), gun violence is one of the conventional crimes in society, which many criminologists and other scholars have focused on, suggesting that the increase is due to the availability of the weapons and accessibility by criminals. Kleck (2015) further suggests that the increase in homicide has a strong relationship with the availability of firearms. Loeffler and Flaxman (2018) take a similar perspective, suggesting that efforts to address homicide in any country should focus on the disposal of weapons in society. Although controversy exists in the actual relationship between increased gun ownership and a high rate of homicide, there is a possibility that people kill when they have access to weapons. However, while some crimes have a clear cut causation factor, such as homicide and gun violence, a new wave of crime, mopped muggings has emerged, which requires further exploration.
Research notes an increase in moped muggers in London and other major cities in the UK. Brown, Thompson, Pepper, and Ryan (2019) conducted a study in London, revealing a growth in phone snatching in London boroughs. Police in London, where the street muggings are prevalent, reveal the complex nature of crime and the need to understand the problem further to create effective solutions. According to Desai (2018), police agree that some of the muggers use motorbikes and mopeds to steal from law-abiding Brits, including cellphones, wallets, and other valuables. The author agrees with Kindred (2019) that many unsuspecting people lose their valuables on the streets to the moped muggers. Desai (2018) reveals that the target victims, as they come out of tube stations and other transport hubs, are vulnerable to such attacks. The primary cause of the moped muggings remains unexplored mainly in research. As a result, it has continued unabated since the current interventions remain primarily ineffective in addressing the challenge with high efficacy. Current efforts have only managed to reduce the rate of the crime but failed to eliminate it (Scully 2019). Current data still indicate high rates of moped muggings in London and the UK in general.
Media includes real case studies of the modus operandi often used by muggers in the streets in the UK. For example, in London, comedian and actor Michael McIntyre became a victim of the crime when his $26,000 Rolex watch was snatched. The muggers smashed his Range Rover’s window while he was on a school run and stole the watch. In another case study, the criminals using the same method raided a jeweler’s shop when they drove into its front door using a scooter (Desai 2018). The cases reveal well-calculated modes of performance by the moped muggers that involve the loss of valuable goods in only a few seconds. Desai (2018) also adds that the muggers are usually armed with weapons, such as hammers and zombie knives, that help them to steal by inducing fear in their target victims. Besides, the weapons, especially zombie knives, have the potential to injure or even kill due to the large cutting blade on one side. The muggers appear to focus on stealing and injuring any person who stands in their way. Regardless of information in the media and research articles concerning the prevalence of moped muggers in the UK, research evidence lacks some of the critical factors that have led to the increase in the rate of crime in the country and its major cities, such as London. A deeper understanding of the crime should include risk factors and underlying reasons for the high rate of the crime in society,
Figures keep rising regarding the incidences of mopped muggings in the United Kingdom, as they cause a new wave of crime in Britain’s major cities, such as London. The crimes are committed by masked men riding on scooters who snatch valuables, such as cellphones, from unsuspecting people on the streets. They have also been committing store break-ins and acid throwing while passing at high speed that their victims cannot catch up with. The Metropolitan Police in London reveals that 22,025 powered two-wheel vehicle crimes occurred in the city between June 2017 and May 2018 (Kindred 2019). The number of criminal offenses using mopeds was 827 in 2012. In just 30 seconds, a person in a moped makes a U-turn, drives on the pavement, and grabs a phone before disappearing. Desai (2018) assumes a similar perspective as Kindred (2019) regarding the growth in the rate of moped crime in the United Kingdom. Interestingly, the author notes that criminals snatch 30 cellphones in one hour. Desai (2018) adds that this type of crime has exploded 1,000 percent across the country since 2015. The increase in the rate of the crime and the number of victims reveals the need to research to understand the cause of the situation and what could be done to resolve it and make main cities in the country safer.
Objectives of the Study
The current study is aimed at understanding the increase in wave of crime in London, which involves mopped muggers. Law enforcement agencies have been searching for solutions to the situation, including police pursuing muggers in their vehicles (Deane 2016). However, the current strategies have remained ineffective in addressing the crime. Scully (2019) suggested that the pursuit of muggers in police vehicles has led to a decline in the rate of crime in the streets of London. However, the reduction in the rate remains unsatisfactory, which creates a need for a better understanding of the nature of the crime, factors behind its increase, and possible strategies that can effectively address the challenge and keep the streets safer. Therefore, the objective of the current study is to create knowledge about the increase in street crime in the United Kingdom with a focus on moped muggings to propose effective remedies to the problem.
Significance of the Study
Crimes such as gun violence and homicide are well-understood, and policymakers have designed effective strategies to address them, but reducing the number of guns in individuals’ hands and moped muggings is a largely unexplored area of study. Criminal justice policies require adequate research evidence to support their efficacy in dealing with crime in society (Wozniak 2016). Therefore, the findings of the current study will be beneficial to the public and policymakers from various perspectives. People in the four case studies (London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow) require practical solutions to the problem to enable them to feel safe when walking in the streets. Therefore, legislators in the criminal justice system will use findings and evidence from research to implement effective interventions in order to address the problem. The study is critical for law enforcement to understand the nature of the crime and use appropriate mechanisms to prevent and address it, such as the need to include other interventions to complement the use of patrol vehicles to prevent the muggings.
Data Collection Method
The study is a comprehensive review of literature on the increase of crime in four cities in the UK, London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow. The research will provide an understanding of moped muggings in the major cities in the UK to inform corrective remedies and policies to addresss the problem. The researcher will engage various types of sources, from criminal justice magazines and media sources, books, and journals, to collect data relevant to moped muggings. The inclusion criteria for the study are sources with direct information about street crime. The rationale for the involvement of such sources is that they provide an understanding of the crime and current trends in its prevalence and the efficacy of attempts to address it. Data from the review will show the number of arrests for the crime and the trends over the years, whether the number has been increasing or decreasing. Thus, the study will comprise of two types of data, interview responses and documentary evidence.
Structure of the Paper
Besides the introduction and the conclusion, the paper will have four chapters. The first chapter will provide evidence of the prevalence of street violence in the United Kingdom, specifically in four case studies- London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow. The chapter will provide an understanding of the research topic. The second chapter will include a critical analysis of the current knowledge related to the prevalence of street crime, specifically moped muggings, in the United Kingdom. The analysis will include the various factors that influence the rate of crime in major cities in the UK and around the world. Besides, it will provide evidence for policymakers to devise effective interventions to address the problem and make the streets safer.
The third chapter will test the strain theory as one of the frameworks that related to the case study. The process involves establishing whether the theory is relevant to the street crime situation in the UK. The case studies, London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow, will be used to illustrate the increase of moped muggings in relation to the strain theory of crime. The final chapter will discuss the primary findings of the study to establish the reason for the increase in street crime in the UK, using London as the case study. The results of the study will inform recommendations on how to make London streets safer by targeting the actual cause of the crime or the risk of offending. Finally, the paper will have a conclusion that will summarize the entire research, and reiterate the study’s key findings and their significance to research and policy-making. The chapter will identify the way forward regarding the understanding of street crime in the UK and what could be done to address the problem to make the streets safer.
Reference List
Brown, I., Thompson, A., Pepper, I., & Ryan, M. (2019). Mobile-Enabled Mobile Phone Snatches: A Tale from Two London Boroughs. Eur. L. Enforcement Res. Bull., 18, 71.
Deane, J. (2016). ‘Car-chase TV’: The Legitimisation of Police Work? (Doctoral dissertation, University of Central Lancashire).
Desai, D, 2018. “Mugging by moped, a new rising trend in Britain crime waves.” National Post. 6 June. https://nationalpost.com/news/moped-muggers-are-causing-a-crime-wave-in-britain
Kindred, A, 2019. “Gone in 30 Secs: Moment moped muggers snatch pedestrian’s mobile phone before speeding off as he chases them.” The Sun. 31 July. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9624051/moped-muggers-pedestrian-mobile-london/
Kleck, G., 2015. The impact of gun ownership rates on crime rates: A methodological review of the evidence. Journal of Criminal Justice, 43(1), pp.40-48.
Loeffler, C, & Flaxman, S, 2018. ‘Is gun violence contagious? A spatiotemporal test’, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 999-1017.
Scully, E, 2019. Moped crime in London more than HALVES a year after police started ramming suspects off their bikes, Mail Online. 2 Sep. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7420343/Moped-crime-London-HALVES-year-police-started-ramming-suspects-bikes.html
Wozniak, K, 2016. “Public opinion and the politics of criminal justice policy-making: Reasons for optimism, pessimism, and uncertainty.” Criminology & Public Policy, vol. 15, 179.
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