Message from Bath police regarding recent bike thefts
jamescw
Posts: 87
PC Chris Leadbeater from Bath police has just contacted us with some advice following a rise in bike thefts in the city. Over to him...
Between 01/08/2010 and 01/12/2010 we've had 86 recorded pedal cycle thefts in Bath alone. Of these, 45 have been in the city centre area. The bikes taken vary in style and value, and the overwhelming majority appear to have been left secured and in authorised areas. Offences have taken place both in daylight and nighttime hours.
To combat this police have been stepping up both plain clothed and uniformed patrols in the city centre area and are working in conjunction with BaNES CCTV operatives to try and catch the persons responsible. We need cycle owners to be aware of this ongoing issue and report any cycle thefts that they may be subject to.
We also need to know of any persons who return to their cycles and find damage done or evidence of an attempted theft. This will help us build a picture of the patterns of offending. It seems likely that it'll be the same group of persons responsible for each offence and if we're able to track their movements then it can help us to close the net on them.
Our advice at this time is for cyclists to still use and enjoy their bikes as they would normally but to pay particular attention to where they leave them and if possible to disable the bike before walking away from it.
If a bike does get stolen then it's always handy for us to have a photograph of it so this can be passed to all officers for their observations. Also, if owners can record their serial numbers and get their cycle post code stamped or marked this helps us link found cycles back to the legitimate owners.
It's always good for us to know the type of lock used to secure it and if the lock has been cut we'd like to be able to view the remains of it. This helps us track the method used in the theft and the type of implements used to disable the lock.
Between 01/08/2010 and 01/12/2010 we've had 86 recorded pedal cycle thefts in Bath alone. Of these, 45 have been in the city centre area. The bikes taken vary in style and value, and the overwhelming majority appear to have been left secured and in authorised areas. Offences have taken place both in daylight and nighttime hours.
To combat this police have been stepping up both plain clothed and uniformed patrols in the city centre area and are working in conjunction with BaNES CCTV operatives to try and catch the persons responsible. We need cycle owners to be aware of this ongoing issue and report any cycle thefts that they may be subject to.
We also need to know of any persons who return to their cycles and find damage done or evidence of an attempted theft. This will help us build a picture of the patterns of offending. It seems likely that it'll be the same group of persons responsible for each offence and if we're able to track their movements then it can help us to close the net on them.
Our advice at this time is for cyclists to still use and enjoy their bikes as they would normally but to pay particular attention to where they leave them and if possible to disable the bike before walking away from it.
If a bike does get stolen then it's always handy for us to have a photograph of it so this can be passed to all officers for their observations. Also, if owners can record their serial numbers and get their cycle post code stamped or marked this helps us link found cycles back to the legitimate owners.
It's always good for us to know the type of lock used to secure it and if the lock has been cut we'd like to be able to view the remains of it. This helps us track the method used in the theft and the type of implements used to disable the lock.
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