Australian police are responding to the rise of unlawful high-speed e-bikes with a tactic borrowed from the problem itself. Officers are now using powerful electric bikes in an effort to catch riders who have been causing trouble on roads and footpaths nationwide.
The move sits alongside legal changes introduced in NSW and Queensland, where police can now confiscate and destroy illegal, altered or high-powered e-bikes and other public-use vehicles that cannot be registered. Rather than relying only on conventional patrol methods, police are also putting officers on electric bikes that can follow suspects into congested streets and pedestrian zones.
In Sydney’s Northern Beaches, those stronger powers were used last week in the first joint operation between NSW Police and Transport for NSW since the laws began. Officers removed 36 e-bikes in Manly, Curl Curl, Dee Why and Avalon during activity aimed at unlawful, altered and high-powered bikes. One machine taken from a 14-year-old boy at Warriewood was allegedly able to exceed 90 km/h.
NSW Police have also assigned officers to VMG Drakon e-bikes for proactive patrol work in places where illegal, dangerous and reckless riding has been occurring. Earlier this year, members of the Illawarra Highway Patrol used the bikes in a one-day enforcement operation centred on e-bikes and e-scooters. Multiple offenders were detected, with penalties issued for breaches involving helmets, licences and registration, along with several official cautions.
Queensland Police are following a similar model, using several types of e-bikes and also putting Talaria Sting electric dirt bikes into service. Because the bikes are light and quiet, officers can move through narrow areas with less noise, giving them an advantage during patrol duties and pursuits.
Queensland Police say 466 illegal e-bikes and e-scooters have been confiscated since the first tranche of the new laws started on July 1. Earlier this week, the first 59 devices were taken to a wrecking facility and destroyed, with the metal and batteries to be recycled where possible.
A comparable strategy is being used in the UK. In London, police are riding high-powered e-bikes while tackling offenders who use similar bikes and mopeds to steal phones, with thefts at a record level.
The Metropolitan Police have lifted the size of their high-powered electric bike fleet from five to 25. The bikes in use are Sur-Rons, which the force says have been a “game changer” in efforts to combat phone theft.
Between February and July, a Westminster operation targeting repeat thieves using e-bikes and mopeds led the Met to arrest 187 people and seize 157 vehicles. The addition of the electric bikes to patrol work has also contributed to a 22 per cent fall in e-bike-related crime in targeted locations such as Lambeth, Southwark, Waterloo and London Bridge.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Frontline Policing Louise Puddefoot said: “Expanding our Sur-Ron fleet gives officers another powerful tool to stay one step ahead of criminals.”
“These bikes allow officers to move quickly through busy streets, access areas traditional vehicles cannot reach, respond faster to crime and arrest more suspects.”
