LONDON — The London police wanted to send a message to thieves on scooters and motorcycles in London: We will catch you however we can.

The Metropolitan Police published a compilation of videos last month showing officers ramming fleeing motorcycle and scooter riders in the hope that “offenders will think twice about their actions.”

But the release attracted criticism for a tactic seen as unusually aggressive, and a labor group for officers warned it might even be against the law.

The video, captured by dashboard cameras in police vehicles, shows riders bouncing off the hoods of the cars that hit them, swerving dangerously in traffic and falling to the pavement. Some fall while being chased, without being hit, and one runs into a hedge.

Since 2014, London has faced a surge in crime committed on two wheels — so-called ride-by theft in particular. Riders often take advantage of people distracted by their cellphones as they walk down busy sidewalks, snatching the devices from their hands, sometimes violently, and grabbing up to 30 an hour, according to the police.

Others snatch women’s purses or assault people as they ride by. They target crowded streets and escape through alleyways, sometimes even discarding their helmets in the belief that it will make the police more cautious in chasing them.

The police call the practice of deliberately running a vehicle into a fleeing motorbike “tactical contact,” and they say that only specially trained drivers do it. According to The Guardian, the tactic was deployed 63 times this year, and three incidents have been referred to the police watchdog for investigation.

One qualified driver, Sgt. Tony McGovern, told The Guardian last month that tactical contact was one of the hardest to use: “It’s just a slight nudge. It’s controlled.” He said suspects were amazed when, in some cases, they were sent sprawling off their bikes.

“They are shocked,” he is quoted as saying. “They say, ‘We did not think you were allowed to do that,’ especially when they take off their helmet. They are confused.”

Crime committed on motorcycles and scooters has dropped by nearly a third since last year, when the police introduced that tactic and others, like using helicopters to track suspects, a statement accompanying the videos said.

“We can, we will and we do target those involved in moped and motorcycle crime at every opportunity,” it said.

In a country where the police’s use of force is far less common than in the United States, the authorities are hardening their practices, and running into some opposition. In Britain, officers do not routinely carry arms on patrol, but the Metropolitan Police recently announced plans for officers to carry guns in plain sight in some high-crime neighborhoods, despite objections from London’s mayor and others.

“Police are not above the law,” Diane Abbott, a Labour member of Parliament whose portfolio includes policing, said on Twitter. “Knocking people off bikes is potentially very dangerous. It shouldn’t be legal for anyone.”

But Prime Minister Theresa May’s government defended the practice. Mrs. May said last week that the suspects being pursued by the police “are acting unlawfully and committing crimes, and I think it’s absolutely right that we see a robust police response to that.”

The home secretary, Sajid Javid, replied to Ms. Abbott on Twitter: “Risk-assessed tactical contact is exactly what we need. Criminals are not above the law.”

But a major labor group for police officers said that tactical contact appeared to violate current law, and could get officers in trouble.

“Judged against the common standard, as police officers are, it is dangerous to drive a car deliberately at another road user,” Tim Rogers of the Police Federation of England and Wales told The Guardian. “The law clearly classifies this as dangerous driving, and officers could be prosecuted.”

The publicity around the video drew attention to a continuing criminal investigation into one chase last year in which a 17-year-old rider who was fleeing the police sustained serious head injuries and fractures. The rider, whose name was not made public, pleaded guilty to five charges, including attempted theft and driving without a license.

“Ultimately, no police tactic can ever be used with impunity in a country where we police by consent,” the Independent Office for Police Conduct, Britain’s police watchdog, said in an email, “be that tactical contact, the use of firearms or the use of restraint.”

A spokesman for the watchdog referred to a longstanding tradition, known as Robert Peel’s 9 Principles of Policing, probably dating back to the establishment of the Metropolitan Police in London, in 1829. They include favoring prevention over repression, limiting the use of force and serving in the interest of and with the consent of the community.

Follow Palko Karasz on Twitter: @karaszpalko.

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