In recent years London has been struggling with an explosion of street crime. A major culprit is the criminals who use mopeds to navigate the British capital’s many back alleys and side streets, thus avoiding police pursuers in cars that cannot access those smaller routes. But now that’s changing.

Adopting new tactics, London’s Metropolitan Police service has achieved a striking 36 percent year-on-year reduction in moped-related crimes. And while better intelligence targeting of prolific offenders has been a key factor in the police success, another arrow in the quiver has been the new tactic of knocking suspects off their mopeds.