Operation Bike Theft

rjsterry

http://road.cc/content/news/70018-avon-somerset-police-urge-anyone-seeing-bike-being-stolen-call-999-3-videos

A good piece on BBC Breakfast, too, including a clear request from a senior police officer that people ring 999 if they see bike thefts in progress. Whether other forces will take bike theft as seriously remains to be seen, but the argument was also made that bike thieves are often involved in more serious crime.

Pretty disturbing images of a PCSO (acting as a thief) dressed in a skeleton outfit, walking up to a (deliberately poorly locked) bike in the middle o a busy shopping centre, breaking it off the Sheffield stand and walking off without anyone noticeable response. At one point he even asks a passing shopper to help him!

Libraio

rjsterry wrote:

Pretty disturbing images of a PCSO (acting as a thief) dressed in a skeleton outfit, walking up to a (deliberately poorly locked) bike in the middle o a busy shopping centre, breaking it off the Sheffield stand and walking off without anyone noticeable response. At one point he even asks a passing shopper to help him!

We've had news crews do properly locked bikes in the middle of shopping streets, attacking the lock with an angle grinder, sparks flying everywhere and nobody doing anything. People either don't care or are scared to do anything.

zx6man

We once "assisted" a thief in York trying to steal a bike, unfortunately it was one of our groups bikes. So maybe "assisted" wasn't the correct word to use, but you are right we didn't call the police either :-)

t4tomo

Libraio wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Pretty disturbing images of a PCSO (acting as a thief) dressed in a skeleton outfit, walking up to a (deliberately poorly locked) bike in the middle o a busy shopping centre, breaking it off the Sheffield stand and walking off without anyone noticeable response. At one point he even asks a passing shopper to help him!

We've had news crews do properly locked bikes in the middle of shopping streets, attacking the lock with an angle grinder, sparks flying everywhere and nobody doing anything. People either don't care or are scared to do anything.

would you approach a nutter with an angle grinder?

MrSweary

My wife and I stopped a bike theft earlier this year in Wapping. Guy was bolt cuttering some bikes outside the Prospect of Whitby. Claimed he'd left it there but ran off to his mate in a car when I got my phone out.

Funny thing was as I called the cops they drove back past so I was able to get the reg and a good description of the car and driver. Found the owners in the pub and they were suitably grateful. Helped that it happened in the middle of the day in a busyish street. Not sure I'd have fancied it if we were alone. Heard nothing from the rozzers.

MisterMuncher

I had to bolt-cutter my own bike off a post once upon a time. Some little git had superglued the lock slot, which is apparently common when they can't get them stolen at the time, allowing them to return later. I went to a nearby hardware shop, a proper brown coat and no showroom place, and borrowed a set of 3ft cutters, and proceeded to liberate my bike.

This was a bright, clear Saturday afternoon, in the middle of July, on a busy shopping street, and not one single person so much as looked sideways.

rjsterry

I suppose this might be partly down to people thinking that bike thieves wouldn't be so obvious - if you look shifty, people will think you are up to something, if you act as though it's all perfectly above board, then people will pick up on that too. A bit like that trick Derren Brown did, of walking up to strangers and getting them to hand over their wallet or watch.