Delivery riders are being “targeted” amid a rise in vehicle thefts, a senior London police officer has said.
Figures presented to councillors at Barking and Dagenham Council on Wednesday showed thefts of motor vehicles in the borough had increased by nearly 22% compared to this time last year.
Chief Inspector Mo Mahmood said recorded incidents had been “predominantly” bike thefts and that the Heath and Whalebone areas had been particularly affected in recent weeks, with “Deliveroo and Uber drivers being targeted”.
He said: “Predominantly the types of vehicles that are being taken are bikes, predominantly during the midweek and during the night time hours.
“We identified that there were a number of thefts of motor vehicle with Deliveroo and Uber drivers being targeted predominantly.”
Mr Mahmood was speaking during a Metropolitan Police presentation to the council’s overview and scrutiny committee, which included an update on crime statistics.
The presentation showed that there had been 247 motor vehicle thefts recorded in the borough this financial year, up 21.7% from the 203 recorded during the same period last year.
Figures also showed there had been a slight increase in recent weeks. The presentation showed there had been 110 thefts recorded in the “current four weeks” period, up from 107 in the previous four weeks.
Mr Mahmood said police in Barking and Dagenham had made efforts to tackle vehicle thefts including by seizing stolen vehicles, arresting suspects and using ANPR trackers.
However, he said the force had discovered it had “some intelligence gaps around who we think is responsible”.
Mr Mahmood said: “We were given some individuals, we did investigate those individuals, we liaised with the victims and we found out they are still a number of suspects we need to respond and oversee.”
He added that police in Barking and Dagenham had been given “additional funding” for “specialist resources” to tackle the thefts.
He said: “We’re also going to improve our intelligence and we’re going to use tactics such as ANPR to recover stolen vehicles and arrest any outstanding suspects.”
Deliveroo and Uber were contacted for comment.
