Stunning footage shows the moment a suspected moped thief is rammed off his bike by specially trained police after a high speed chase through east London.
The dash-cam video shows a police car smashing into the motorbike in Victoria Park as officers carry out the so called 'tactical contact' on a busy street as pedestrians walk by.
The incident, filmed for a Channel 5 documentary, capture in graphic detail the Metropolitan Police's controversial new tactics to crackdown on the scooter crimewave that has plagued the capital.
It shows specially trained officers receive an emergency call to trace a red moped being driven by a man in a hi-vis vest.
Teams race to where he was last spotted, with footage showing the moped swerving around another vehicle up ahead.
Seconds later it attempts to manoeuvre around another police car, before it smashes into the bonnet and the rider is thrown to the ground.
The moped attempts to manoeuvre around another police car as the rider attempts to escape
The moped suspect then smashes into the bonnet and the rider is thrown to the ground, before he is surrounded by officers
As the suspect attempts to flee an officer sprays him with a high tech 'water pistol' which are used to mark moped thugs with invisible liquid that can later be used to link them to a crime.
The aerosol cans drench culprits with forensically-tagged liquid called SelectaDNA, that stays on skin, clothes and vehicles for three months, and glows under UV light.
Several officers can then be seen grappling the suspect to the ground, before he is arrested. The rider doesn't appear injured after the crash, and is treated by ambulance crews.
An officer tells the Channel 5 documentary Snatch and Grab: Moped Gangs on the Rampage, says: 'The conclusion to the pursuit was brought about by tactical contact.
As the suspect attempts to flee an officer sprays him with a high tech 'water pistol' which are used to mark moped thugs with invisible liquid that can later be used to link them to a crime
Several officers can then be seen grappling the suspect to the ground, before he is arrested. The rider doesn't appear injured after the crash, and is treated by ambulance crews
'That is one of the many strands of options we have to us.
'In this case it was simply justified for the manner of riding, on a footpath, through a park, endangering peoples lives.
Police said guidance on the use of vehicles in stopping mopeds is similar to that surrounding the use of force by officers on foot.
Officers are told they can only use force when it is 'absolutely necessary, reasonable and proportionate'.
Police car drivers have to keep this in mind when deciding whether to crash into a fleeing moped mugger.
Whereas police may have been more reluctant to chase robbers without helmets in previous years, the spike in moped crime has concentrated the minds of Scotland Yard chiefs.
More training for 'scorpion' drivers and the increasingly dangerous tactics used by muggers has led to the method being more widely used.
'We can't allow that to continue.
'If we hadn't have done this, what would he have done further down the road.'
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of five offences, failing to stop for police, suspected theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a class a drug with intent to supply, failing a roadside drug test and dangerous driving.
It is unclear if he was ever charged or convicted.
Another police officer tells the documentary: 'We have no desire to knock them off and cause any injury to them.
'However, that is a tactic that is available to us. If it is appropriate for us to use it, we will use it.'
The documentary also interviews members of the moped gangs committing crimes, and
