RE: In setting up a bicycle theft deterrance operation

Going to post some info for you on this.

Bike Thefts Prompt Arrests
The UCPD Concentrates on Prevention of UCSB’s No. 1 Crime Using Sting Operations
By Jason La, Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, October 1, 2002

Issue 6 / Volume 83

Enlarge this image

Brent Slonecker / Daily Nexus

Campus police planted bikes by these racks near lot 23 this weekend in a sting operation to catch would-be thieves. Two people were caught taking the unlocked bikes. Three others were arrested for theft in other areas. The UCPD is urging students both to lock their bikes to a stationary object with a U-lock and register with CSO. The $6 registration is mandatory for bikes on campus and is available at the CSO office.
The UC Police Dept. arrested and cited five people in connection with bicycle thefts during the week preceding Fall Quarter.

Bicycle theft has been on the rise since 1999, with 218 cases reported to the UCPD in 2001. Bicycle theft is the No. 1 crime reported to the UCPD each year, UCPD Assistant Chief of Police Bill Bean said. In the UCSB campus safety report, the UCPD reported 161 cases of stolen bicycles. In 1999, the number of cases reported grew to 203, and 211 cases were reported in 2000. While all five incidents of theft in September have been isolated incidents, the UCPD has taken a proactive approach to prevention.

“It seems like we have an unusually busy year already with bikes being stolen and that’s one of the reasons we wanted to get this out,” Bean said. “We are actively going after these guys.”

“I think it is common at the beginning of the year because a lot people don’t know how to lock their bikes properly and because of the new bicycles that are given to students when they go to college,” said Sgt. Suzanne Malloy. “I think that bike thieves target universities.”

The UCPD set up a sting operation to catch bicycle thieves and had more success this year than in the past.

As part of the sting operation, the UCPD places a decoy bicycle owned by the department at various bicycle parking lots around campus and watches from a distance, waiting for someone to steal the bike. The UCPD then follows the thieves to see where they go and what they do with the bicycle.

“It is not entrapment because we’re not enticing anybody to go over there and steal it,” Bean said. “All we’re doing is providing a bicycle that doesn’t belong to those people and they have no business to take it to begin with. It is just a bicycle that is sitting there like thousands of others. It is a crime of opportunity.”

Two of the arrests in the sting operation have been made in bicycle parking lot 23 near the Events Center. In one incident, the UCPD observed Gerado Lule-Paniagua, 19, approach the decoy bicycle and examine it. He then leaned the bicycle against a pole and locked his own bicycle to a bicycle rack near by. Lule-Paniagua then rode off with the decoy bicycle into I.V. where officers stopped and questioned him. In his statement, Lule-Paniagua said a “tall white guy” claimed ownership of the bicycle and told Lule-Paniagua he could have it. UCPD officers did not observe a tall white guy approach Lule-Paniagua. Lule-Paniagua was not able to prove his identity and was taken to the Santa Barbara County Jail and booked for petty theft. Officers later found that Lule-Paniagua had a fraudulent residential alien card. Lule-Paniagua will have to appear in court.

UCSB student Ryan Powers Lewellyn, 19, was also arrested, cited for petty theft and released after taking a decoy bicycle set up by UCPD in bicycle parking lot 23. Lewellyn told UCPD officers that his bicycle was stolen recently and figured that it was karma to take the decoy bike, Bean said. Lewellyn will have to appear in court, as well.

Two of the arrests made were from a single incident involving one male and one female, both of whom are UCSB students. On Sept. 26 at approximately 12:24 a.m., a CSO officer observed what appeared to be a bicycle theft in progress at campus-affiliated housing Francisco Torres. The CSO officer saw Jared Bret Edrosolan, 22, remove a pair of bolt cutters from his backpack and cut the lock from two bicycles. Paige Nicole Delong, 22, accompanied Edrosolan in the incident.

A description was called into the UCPD by the CSO officer. In Edrosolan’s statement, he said he saw a CSO officer and told Delong to “take off.” Edrosolan and Delong separated and went off in different directions. They were both stopped by UCPD officers and questioned. When asked if he knew why he was being stopped, Edrosolan said, “Because I just took this bike.”

Edrosolan consented to a search of his backpack, in which a pair of bolt cutters was found. Edrosolan was arrested, cited and then released on misdemeanor charges of petty theft and possession of burglary tools. Delong was arrested, cited and then released for taking a bicycle without permission for temporary use, or “joy riding.” Both will have to appear in court. Bean said both Edrosolan and Delong where “regretful and completely forthcoming about the incident.”

The name of the perpetrator and the circumstances of the crime were not available for the fifth arrest.

Petty theft is the theft of property worth $400 or less. Theft of property worth more than $400 is grand theft. Although petty theft is a misdemeanor and the penalty for it is either a fine or one year in county jail, being caught with stolen property is a more serious offense.

“We’re going to put a lot more emphasis on bicycle theft. Of course there’s a lot more to it than bicycle theft. If you’re riding [a stolen bicycle], that’s stolen property. You could be charged with a felony for possession of stolen property … and be subject to having your house searched with a lawful search warrant to look for other stolen property,” Bean said.

Students will be more likely to recover their bicycles if they register their bikes with CSO, Malloy said.

“It’s a county ordinance and it’s also required on campus to have registered bicycles. The advantage to registering your bicycle is that it is stamped and a license is given to it. All of the important identifying information is kept on file with the registration. So if somebody’s bicycle is lost or stolen, they can just call the police department and we have all the information on file already,” Malloy said. “Another advantage to registering a bike is if their bike is stolen, and they’re the one to find that bike, then they’ve got prove that the bike is theirs because it’s been registered in their name.”

Malloy and Bean also recommend that students use strong U-locks to lock their bicycles to stationary objects and to not lock the bike to itself.

Students can register their bicycles at the CSO office Monday through Friday from noon to 3 p.m. The cost is $6 and it is valid for the entire time a student attends UCSB.

RE: In setting up a bicycle theft deterrance operation

Here is a link to COPS/DOJ on sting ops;
http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/ric/Publications/e10079110.pdf

RE: In setting up a bicycle theft deterrance operation

Super Hot Wheels

Janet Orsi
Bicycles Built for Two: Detective Brad Goodwin of SCPD believes that if the community were more concerned with bike theft, this police warehouse would be empty.

Up to a half-million dollars' worth of bikes is stolen in the city of Santa Cruz every year--mostly to finance drug habits

By Mary Spicuzza

H AZY WINTER SUNLIGHT seeping into the dark warehouse from its half-open door illuminates every color and type of bike imaginable. Vintage cruisers with wire baskets, titanium-frame mountain bikes, glossy lowriders and rusty 10-speeds lean in tight rows from wall to wall, and several seemingly brand-new BMXs hang from the ceiling. Extending from a shelf of confiscated skateboards on one wall to random electronic equipment stacked across the room, a growing pile is taking over the musty room.

This remote storage shed on River Street isn't a bicycle theft ring's headquarters. It's just one of the Santa Cruz Police Department's several holding pens for unclaimed recovered stolen bikes.

"The trade of stolen bikes is a huge, lucrative industry in Santa Cruz," says Detective Brad Goodwin, investigations officer for the SCPD, looking out over the sea of bicycles.

"We see a bike or two a day come here," adds Marilyn Ellenwood, who watches over the forgotten goods for the SCPD Property Department.

This warehouse is the destination for only a small number of the bikes reported stolen in the city of Santa Cruz each year. And it contains a mere fraction of the bicycles lost to a local epidemic of theft.

Nobody knows the total number of bicycles that disappear due to theft. Police get reports of about 500 missing bikes a year, valued at $300 to $500. But the one or two bikes reported stolen each day represent about half the actual number. Most bike thefts--about 60 percent--go unreported, according to police.

As many as 1,250 bikes vanish each year, according to estimates, costing victims upwards of a half-million dollars annually.

"After a bike was stolen from our shop, one officer told me that every year, more money is lost to bike theft than bank robberies," says Dave Gittleman, a co-owner of Another Bike Shop. "In one robbery, we lost $10,000 worth of merchandise. But, because bank robberies are higher profile, they go after the bank robbers instead."

Detective Goodwin estimates that one-third of heisted bikes were either unlocked or poorly locked--fastened with a cheap chain, with the lock securing only a wheel, or with a Kryptonite-style 'U' lock attached to an unstable object. Thieves have also been known to clip or break locks within seconds, lift bikes off signposts or strip unlocked components.

Anyone who's gotten ripped off will tell you a theft can happen in just a few minutes, anywhere a bike is left unattended. Hot spots for bike theft include downtown's Metro bus station, the corner of Bay and Mission streets (where many UCSC students park their bikes), quiet side streets downtown, and racks outside the Boardwalk.

The fate of many stolen bicycles is as much a mystery as just how many bikes are involved. Where hot bikes go depends on who swipes them and whether they get caught.

Successful recovery rates don't look good.

"I'd say about a half of 1 percent of bikes reported stolen are recovered," Detective Goodwin says. "That's one out of 200 bikes."

Bike the Bullet

I T WOULD BE ODDLY encouraging if the frequency of thefts could be attributed to the popularity of alternative transportation in Santa Cruz. But those on the front lines attribute the trend not to how many people ride bikes, but to how many people are hooked on illegal drugs.

"Santa Cruz has an extremely high drug-addict population, and it's very easy to trade stolen bikes for drugs," Goodwin says. "Money, bikes and gold. Heroin addicts always tell me those are the top three things dealers are looking for."

Todd Landsborough, owner of the used bike shop Santa Cruzers, agrees that drugs play a major role in the local bike-theft story.

"Drug addicts--mostly heroin junkies--are responsible for 90 percent of bike thefts around here," Lands-
borough opines.

David Takemoto-Weerts, a former UCSC student who has worked as bicycle coordinator at UC-Davis, says the majority of thefts there are committed by petty criminals. He suspects that the same is true in Santa Cruz, and he says that makes solutions harder to find.

"To a junkie, any bike is a fix," Takemoto-Weerts says. "They usually go for whatever bike they can get their hands on the fastest. Quality doesn't matter, so even people who buy cheaper bikes to avoid getting ripped off still lose bikes."

Last year a big bust went down at a local homeless shelter, where police arrested several people involved in a bike- theft ring. Twelve to 15 disassembled, stolen bikes were confiscated. Heroin was again involved.

Bike shop owner Gittleman says the addicts may be hooked up to an organized ring.

"When a man who stole a $2,000 bike from our store was arrested, he told police where in Beach Flats he'd taken the bike to get heroin," Gittleman says. "Apparently the cops knew the place as a fencing location, where they gather bikes before shipping them out of the area. Police told us they don't see it as a serious enough crime to warrant going in and retrieving the bikes."

Police say they believe a theft ring may be responsible for most local professional jobs, which involve high-end bikes that are reportedly shipped to Mexico for sale to the country's wealthy. Detective Goodwin and others at the SCPD believe the group is made up of Mexican nationals who have ties to the drug trade in town--mainly heroin and methamphetamines.

"We often get reports from border patrol about pickup trucks full of stolen bikes caught en route to Mexico. Probably 20 to 30 percent of Santa Cruz's missing bikes end up there," Goodwin says.

Robert Scheer

Wheelie well-Spokan: Downtown's Metro Center is a notorious hot spot for bike theft. Bicycles, gold and cash are the favored currencies in Santa Cruz's heroin trade.

System Failure

B ICYCLE OWNERS ARE required by law to register any bike, but few people actually do it because the system is seen as ineffective. It's unanimous that current methods just aren't working, but not everyone agrees on a path to solutions.

Goodwin and his investigations team anxiously look forward to the implementation of a new policy bringing stricter regulations for local used-bike shops.

The policy will upgrade and enforce the already existing secondhand dealers' license required for any shop selling used merchandise, including bikes.

"Many of the stolen bikes end up at the various used-bicycle shops around town, one or two problem shops in particular," Goodwin says. "They don't usually check serial numbers or registration or anything."

The new license will require pawn dealers to give receipts, demand proper registration for the merchandise and require merchants to hold used bikes for 30 days. This policy will also hold shops accountable for any stolen merchandise found inside.

Police have submitted their request to city officials and are now waiting for implementation.

Used-bike shop owners don't share the police department's optimism and don't like the new policy.

"There's no advantage to us dealing in stolen bikes," says Anthony Brown of Dave's Recycled Bikes. "My shop doesn't want that reputation. We already do everything we can to avoid dealing in anything that's been stolen."

Frank Male at 7th Avenue Bike Shop also feels he's doing enough already.

"I take a photo of everyone with their bike before they sell it and keep a copy of their driver's license on hold. My shop isn't big enough to hold each bike for a month."

As at most used-bike stores, folks at Dave's and 7th Avenue deny that they encourage bike theft. They cite numerous tales of helping people recover stolen goods, and just as many stories of being victimized by bike thieves themselves.

Tom Sullivan of Sullivan's Bike Shop on Seabright Avenue still laments losses he incurred when robbers rammed a truck into his shop and stole several thousand dollars' worth of bikes.

Shop owners feel cops are pointing the finger at them when it's police policy that's failing.

"Police programs against bike theft are a joke," Brown says. "They won't run serial numbers over the phone. Police insist used-bike shops bring in each bike in person to check if it's stolen. They're not encouraging shops to even call them at all.

"The police are assuming dishonesty. They need to stop treating bike shops like we are the guilty party."

Frank Male also decries the policy of refusing to check serial numbers over the phone, and believes the SCPD could do more to prevent bike theft.

Cops acknowledge more could be done but attribute the lack of theft-prevention programs to limited funds and community apathy.

"It's unbelievably hard to generate public interest over the issue," Goodwin says. "People are far more concerned with residential theft or violent crimes."

Braking the Cycle

R EGARDLESS OF WHERE hot bikes are going, locals are wondering whether their unattended bicycles will ever be safe. "There has never been a really aggressive bike theft-prevention program enforced in Santa Cruz, at least that I've ever seen," says Julie Munnerlyn, the county's senior transportation planner. When asked what such a program would look like, Munnerlyn and others have ideas but few successful examples to work from.

Most efforts of Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission focus on educating bike owners. A recent SCCRT pamphlet, compiled by Andy Snow and Don Speck, gives the ins and outs of safe ownership, including advice to lock a bike in a frequently traveled, well-lit area with a top-quality "U" lock. A project of Bike Secure, the flier also gives owners the lowdown on registering each bike, knowing its serial number and immediately reporting a theft.

Aside from educating bicyclists, there is little agreement about what a successful, proactive solution would look like.

Other cities, including Madison, Wisc., and Portland, Ore., have experimented with programs that make free bikes available. Such programs refurbish old bikes, paint them a distinctive color such as yellow and leave them around town for those who want to pedal to their destination and leave the bike there. In theory it reduces interest in student bikes around campus and allows nice bikes to be kept safely locked away.

Probably the most talked-about program was Portland's yellow bike program, which was launched in September 1994.

When asked how the program worked, Portland's Bike Program Coordinator Mia Birk is blunt.

"It didn't work at all," she says. "The media hype over the yellow bikes was successful, but the program itself flopped. Every time the private group sponsoring the program donated 50 bikes, most of them disappeared."

Regardless of its failure up north, some locals have hopes for a similar plan in Santa Cruz.

"There's been a lot of interest from Goodwill and the sheriff's office to donate bikes to begin such a program," Munnerlyn says. "But the yellow bike program has been proven not to work because so many of those bikes are stolen."

Other proposed solutions run from luring thieves with unlocked bikes as bait to running sting operations that could infiltrate professional groups dealing hot bikes and crystal methamphetamine.

Growing Cycles, a 3-year-old group, has several ideas in motion. One hopes to prevent theft by offering guarded valet parking at high-bike-traffic areas like downtown's farmer's market. Another helps kids from low-income families earn money to buy bikes through community service projects.

Meanwhile, bike theft will remain a daily problem. The majority of bikes now filling the SCPD's warehouse will be donated to charities. As for the others, just how many end up cruising the roads of Mexico or being swapped at flea markets continues to be a mystery.

[ Santa Cruz | MetroActive Central | Archives ]

Last edited @ 4/26/2008 12:59 PM

RE: In setting up a bicycle theft deterrance operation

Cycle Security & Theft and Survey

PROTECT YOUR BIKE

Use a good lock. Lock both wheels and the frame. This may require 2 locks or a lock and a strong cable.

Lock it to something that is secure and cannot easily be cut through, unbolted.

Record the framenumber, and details, and take a photo of your bike.

Register your bike on www.immobilise.com

Mark your bike with postcode and house number details. We have labels for this.

LCC booklet on cycle security as pdf

LCC booklet on cycle security as rich text format

AND WHEN THIS FAILS AND YOUR BIKE IS GONE

Click here to report online to the Metropolitan Police

BACKGROUND

Reducing the theft of pedal cycles is a crime and disorder reduction indicator that the Hammersmith & Fulham Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership report on to the Home Office. In the Crime & Disorder Reduction Strategy 2005-08, the partnership has set a target of reducing pedal cycle theft by 15% by 2005/06 and a further 15% each year to 2008. We are co-operating with this endeavour.

Cycle theft in LBHF discussed at our meeting here: http://www.hfcyclists.org.uk/metOct05.htm

[The British Crime Survey thinks only 44% of cycle thefts are reported.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/crimeew0405.html
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb1105.pdf at p58

And in Islington
There has been a 120 per cent increase in recording of 'pedal cycle theft' going from 757 in 2001/02 to 1,669 in 2003/04.
http://www.islington.gov.uk/pdf/communitysafety/icdyp_audit_2004.pdf]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SURVEY

HFCYCLISTS survey on cycle theft. 17 - 31 October 2005

This survey was carried out using www.surveymonkey.com. A message asking for responses was sent out to our hfcyclists and hfcyclistsannounce email lists.

The survey may be biased / skewed because:
The population surveyed were members of our email group, and
the people answering selected themselves. 46 out of something over 250 members.
A fairer survey would be done randomly on all cyclists, or better on people who had cycles, even though they are not out on them.

The written responses are given at the end. One response has been slightly edited.

The Total number of Respondents was 46

Responses are Displayed as
QUESTION
Followed by for each option
Percent Response / number of responses for that option.

*******QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR PRESENT BIKE*******

1 IS YOU PRESENT BIKE INSURED AGAINST THEFT?

yes, by dedicated bike insurance
8.9% 4
yes, covered by household insurance, or similar
40% 18
no
51.1% 23
(skipped this question) 1

2. HAVE YOU A RECORD OF THE FRAME-NUMBER OF THE BIKE, AND IS IT RECORDED ON ANY DATABASE - WWW.IMMOBILISE.COM IS RECOMMENDED BY POLICE.

no record of frame-number
48.9% 22
I know frame-number, but not on any database
37.8% 17
I know frame-number, and recorded on some database.
13.3% 6
Total Respondents 45
(skipped this question) 1

3. IS YOU BIKE MARKED WITH POSTCODE OR SIMILAR SO THAT YOU COULD BE IDENTIFIED AND BIKE POSSIBLY RETURNED TO YOU?

yes
22.2% 10
no
77.8% 35
(skipped this question) 1

4. IF YOUR PRESENT BIKE WAS STOLEN WOULD YOU REPORT IT TO THE POLICE?

yes
86.7% 39
no
13.3% 6

(skipped this question) 1

5. WHERE DO YOU USUALLY LEAVE YOUR BIKE AT NIGHT

on the street
6.7% 3
outside, but not on street
24.4% 11
in communal space in flats
11.1% 5
inside locked flat / space
53.3% 24
other
4.4% 2
(skipped this question) 1

********* HAVE YOU SUFFERED CYCLE THEFT? ********

6. HAVE YOU HAD A BIKE STOLEN IN THE LAST 2 YEARS? [IF STOLEN IN THE LAST YEAR, OR MORE THAN ONE STOLEN, PLEASE ADD COMMENT IN ANSWER 10]

yes, insured, and I reported it to police
15.9% 7
yes, insured, and I did not report to police
2.3% 1
yes, uninsured, and I reported to police
6.8% 3
yes, uninsured and I did not report to police
4.5% 2
no
70.5% 31
(skipped this question) 2

7. HAVE YOU HAD A WHEEL OR SADDLE STOLEN IN LAST 2 YEARS, APART FROM AS ABOVE?

yes
13.6% 6
no
86.4% 38
(skipped this question) 2

8. PLEASE GIVE: MAKE/ TYPE/ VALUE OF BIKE STOLEN APPROX DATE STOLEN APPROX TIME DAY/ OVERNIGHT FROM WHICH STREET LOCATION FROM HOME, WHILST SHOPPING OUT ETC TECNIQUE USED

Total Respondents 15
(skipped this question) 31
Detailed responses below.

9. ARE YOU A MEMBER OF LCC, CTC [SO THIS SURVEY CAN BE COMPARED WITH ANY SURVEYS DONE BY THOSE ORGANISATIONS ON JUST THEIR MEMBERS, AND SEEING IF ANY DIFFERENCES SHOW UP.]

lcc
32.6% 14
ctc
0% 0
lcc and ctc
9.3% 4
neither
58.1% 25
(skipped this question) 3

10. ANY COMMENTS ON VULNERABLE PLACES, WHETHER A STOLEN BIKE RETURNED TO YOU, COMMENTS ON REPORTING TO POLICE, ETC. DO YOU LIVE / WORK IN LBHF. ANYTHING ELSE. GIVE YOUR NAME IF YOU WISH.

Total Respondents 25
(skipped this question) 21
Detailed responses below.

***************
Q8 Detailed responses

PLEASE GIVE: MAKE/ TYPE/ VALUE OF BIKE STOLEN APPROX DATE STOLEN APPROX TIME DAY/ OVERNIGHT FROM WHICH STREET LOCATION FROM HOME, WHILST SHOPPING OUT ETC TECNIQUE USED

raleigh BoB about £800 about 2 yrs ago at 5pm from grounds of Hogarth health Club Airedale Ave W4 whilst I was using club recorded on CCTV

Trek/ some sort of HyBrid/ £300+ (?) May '04 Between 20.00 - 23.30 From bike racks at Barons Court Tube Station Lock picking V.HVY Chain/Padlock

1) Giant Mountain Bike, £400, stolen while lockked at the space outside the front of my house. May 2002 2) Giant Mounain Bike, £400, stolen by a gang while my son was riding home from school in hammersmith. June 2004 3) Holdsworth road bike, £200, stolen while looked at place of work (UCL). October 2001

Cannondale Scalpel 800 2003, £1300. Stolen approx 30 June 2004, overnight from inside my vehicle, which was in a "secure" underground car park, belonging to the flat complex where I live. I believe the thieves gained access to the car park with a false or stolen swipe car. They then smashed the rear window of my vehicle to take the bike.

Barracuda - Tifosi £320 20-9-05 7-8pm Olympia train station Kensington London whilst shopping Abus lock was cut probably using bolt cutters

Wife's bike stolen from railings outside her school in Cromwell Rd, and was locked. My bike was stolen from Bicycle hoops while popping into a Covent Garden shop, as I was only gone 5 mins I used a lightweight cable which was cut through quickly with bolt cutters, by obviously organised gang. There appears to be a 'campaign' of thefts in early autumn to sell to studuents ?

Trek Navigator T30 value £250 June 26 about 6pm North End Road whilst in Barons' Court library

n/a

Schwinn MTB, £1000, Stolen 06/2004, afternoon from back garden, covered by contents insurance, reported to police.

trek (?) Supernova, stolen from council bike parks behind debenhams on Oxford street between 6:30 and 7:30pm. Entire bike and lock gone.

make/ type/ value of bike stolen - Probike Voyager £150 approx date stolen - June 2005 approx time day/ overnight - overnight from which street location - W4 Chiswick from home, whilst shopping out etc - from home tecnique used - unknown - bolt cutters ?

make: Can't remember type: Mountain value of bike stolen: £100ish date: Last few days of November 2003 time: 16:30ish location: By the river on the Hammersmith side of Fulham Football ground, before you turn left onto stevanage road On my way home tecnique used: 4 boys (recognised one from when he tried to nick a footie off me in bishops park once, not that the police cared) Came up and made as if to get on so i just got off, not wanting to cause any trouble.

wheel, March 2005, daytime, from home in augustine rd while in!, quick release wheel

Padlocked to railings outside place of work (there's no provision for the many cyclists)

Peugeot County stolen from Hammersmith tube station. Saddle stolen from Kensington Church Street

*********
Q10 Detailed responses

ANY COMMENTS ON VULNERABLE PLACES, WHETHER A STOLEN BIKE RETURNED TO YOU, COMMENTS ON REPORTING TO POLICE, ETC. DO YOU LIVE / WORK IN LBHF. ANYTHING ELSE. GIVE YOUR NAME IF YOU WISH.

apparently there have bveen a lot of bike thefts in Putney - a friend had his mountain bike stolen from outside Halfords - it was locked, and he was only gone for 15 minutes.

I live and work in H&F and cycle to work everyday leaving my bike locked in a rail on the King Street. I have been told that it is not safe but I have not other place at work to leave it.

Live + work in LBHF. Mo Morgan

I have some work in LBHF. I live in Brent (and most work in Brent).

I have reported all these to the place. Including a 4th attempted theft from oustide a shop in Dawes Road. Reporting these thefts to the place takes is a very slow and painful process. I live and work in LBHF.

I've had the bolts stolen which attach the frame to the back wheel, and the back light stolen. I've previously had two bikes stolen, one in Norwich and one in Germany, though admittedly they weren't very well locked up. I think a lot more people would have bikes if they had somewhere secure and dry to keep them - there's often not enough room in people's flats.

I've not had my bike stolen for about 4 years, because I have top quality Abbas D lock, one fixed front wheel and I incorporate the back wheel into the lock up. I am also very particular about the immovability of whatever I tie the bike up to. About 18 months ago, when I was working in Shepherds Bush, I and scores of other people witnessed a women's oldish bike locked up to the bike racks by the Central Line station being ruthlessly stripped by a group of young boys (ages ranging from 8 to 14)while more of their gang kept watch. They were oblivious of the throngs of people walking by (it was lunchtime). I must say, I wasn't brave enough to go up to them as their numbers were too intimidating! In the past 20+ years, my family and I would have had about 7 or 8 bikes stolen between the 4 of us. I think we only reported about 2 of these thefts to the police, because the lack of interest or help from them was so obvious and evident that we felt it all proved an absolute waste of time. About 6 months ago my partner spotted a young lad in Hyde Park riding his ancient Saracen that had gone missing from outside our home the night before. He took off, running about 50 mph, screaming after the boy. The terrified boy got off his bike and, following an interrogation from my partner, he revealed he had bought it off 'some boys' whom he'd never seen before. Well, my partner got his bike back, but the poor lad was left with empty hands and empty pockets. Over the past couple of years we have occasionally spotted lurking groups of 2 or 3 young boys darting in and out of the cars below (we live on the 2nd floor), and prodding away at people's bikes. My partner (who grew up around here) has the best solution that will guarantee a non-return: loud shout, very nasty, sharp tongue - reels of it - nothing compromising! We watch them run and rarely do we see them return.

I believe I have seen 2 bike thefts from Putney Bridge tube station bike park, underneath the rail bridge arches, both have been reported to the police, I'm not sure what if any surveillance has been introduced! If there have been many thefts from here it could be a good place for a sting operation? Regards Jon Smith

live and work in LBHF. John Smits eekzoids@hotmail.com

I am on your mailing list and the main comment is that discussions seem to concentrate soley on Shepherds Bush & Hammersmith areas. How about the cycle route east-west to Central London

Work in LBHF

Didn't think police would be interested in bicycle theft. How do I find frame number and get on database?

Second bike stolen in Sept 2005, outside Hammersmith/Fulham hospital. Specalized, £500, not covered by contents insurance, reported to police.

Live on Edward Woods Estate in LBHF. Flatmate had bike vandalised outside our block of flats (locked with 2 D-locks to a Sheffield stand, but they just cut the brake cables!) TWICE, so I keep mine inside the block chained to railings on a walkway - although officially we are not supposed to block the walkway or chain anything up... I asked LBHF if they would consider putting in some bike stands in our communal (secured-access) garden, but had no response.

above incident - 2 bikes were stolen at the same time previously in 2002 & 2003 had bikes stolen - from stands outside Hammersmith Town Hall (pre-locked cage)

I keep my bike in my flat, or inside the building at work, so it is secure most of the time. Everyone else I know in Shepherd's bush who has had to leave their bike outside at night has had parts of it stolen. I live in LBHF and work in Farringdon.

Bike stolen five yr ago outside what is now Primark. reported to police. Live in LBHF. use bike nearly every day for local trips. I've asked Hammersmith police re marking bikes, they appear not to do it any more. They used to do it at our local fair.

Live in LBHF, work near Russell Sq. Commute to work and generally leave bike locked at work cycle racks, restricted access. Often leave bike locked on street in Central London, Notting Hill, Hammersmith & Shep Bush, evenings and weekends (eg while at cinema, shopping, etc).

Recognised one of the people stealing it and knew his school (because he'd once tried to take a football off me in Bishops Park with his school uniform on) but the police just thought i was looking to blame that school. Police weren't very helpful. Never got it back

Had a shed for keeping the bike in but Council forced us to take it down as it was not 'in keeping' with the street (although there are many others in the vicinity). When I reported theft of wheel back to the the officers responsible there was of course a total silence.

Since I bougt my bike in May I have had my saddle stolen from outside Victoria station, my lights stolen from Eversholt St (Euston), my second saddle stolen from the road that runs down the side of the Porchester Centre (Paddington), and an attempt was also made to steal my bike from Eversholt St, Euston (they destroyed the lock but didn't manage to break the cable, however I then had to cut the cable myself in order to unchain the bike). My bike cost me approx. £170 all in, and it has since cost me a little over £100 and a whole lot of inconvenience to deal with the fallout of minor theft.

I live in LBHF and work in and around Westminster - Pimlico in south and Queens Park in north. I don't usually have too much trouble finding somewhere to secure my bike but there are times when it hasn't been as secure as I would like because I've had to lock it to a sign, there being nothing else available.

Cycle parking is "safest" when it's most conspicuous; too much cycle parking is hidden away. I prefer road-side railings to virtually anything the council provides. I've had two bikes stolen in London in 18 years; I only reported them for the insurance. I've never heard of ANYONE getting theirs back! I've seen people cruising bike parking looking for the valuable ones but who do you tell? The police will behave as if you're wasting their time. I live and work (50% of the time) in LBH&F.

Police thougth the bike was stolen by a car thief to look for cars!

live in lbhf

*************
END

John Griffiths
[chair / co-ordinator hfcyclists]
122c Edith rd
W14 9AP
020 7371 1290 / 07789 095 748
john@truefeelings.com

RE: In setting up a bicycle theft deterrance operation

THESE ARE JUST SOME IDEAS FOR PUTTING TOGETHER A PROGRAM. COPS HAD A SEGMENT WHERE THEY DID A BIKE STING. THE BEST THE SUSPECT COULD DO WAS TO YELL HE WAS ENTRAPPED. SET THE BIKE UP, USUALLY AN EXPENSIVE ONE, IN A KNOWN HIGH THEFT AREA, PUT A TRANSPONDER ON IT IF YOU SUSPECT THERE MIGHT BE OTHER TYPES OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES INVOLVED, LIKE THE DRUG RING, AND VIDEO TAPE THE THEFT AND THE ARREST. HOW CAN YOU LOSE?