Brickbat: The Bicycle Thieves

A report by the United Kingdom's Liberal Democrats political party claims that bicycle theft has been effectively decriminalized in the U.K. Based on government data, the report found that 89 percent of the 365,706 bicycle thefts reported to police since 2019 have not been solved. And the number of reports may greatly underestimate the actual number of thefts. Data from the British crime survey, which asks people about crimes that have been committed against them, indicates there are about 300,000 bicycle thefts each year.

Comments

[Vernon Depner]

I support the death penalty for bicycle thieves.

[Don't look at me!]

Only if they are stolen while trespassing on public property.

[RebeccaHatley]

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[Chumby]

I prayed to God for a bicycle, but didn’t get one and realized it doesn’t work this way.
I then stole a bicycle and prayed to God for forgiveness.

[Smith1]

Too funny. I prayed to god to win the football team but my opponent must be loved by god more because they also prayed and he answered their prayers but not mine...

[JerrySTL]

Now that's funny. I only have three bikes now. You've given me an idea!

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's a little hard to run down every little petty theft when you have misgendering to prosecute.

[InsaneTrollLogic]

On the other hand, there were about 130,500 motor vehicle thefts in England and Wales over 2022/23. So your car is safer than your bicycle there.

[Roberta]

Isn't that the usual case? It's a lot easier to steal bicycles.

[Minadin]

I dunno, I only had my bicycle stolen once. After that, I bought a car. I've had cars broken into a few times, but never stolen.

It's definitely more difficult to break into a bicycle.

[Adans smith]

On the other hand, I hear the used bike market is thriving.

[Roberta]

I wouldn't look at it as decriminalization. Rather, bicycle thefts have always been very hard to solve. I'm surprised it's not over 90% everywhere in the world, all the time. Your bicycle disappears, and is never identified from then on, looks like everyone else's and can be kept indoors or otherwise out of sight even if it doesn't. 11% solved looks good to me.

[Don't look at me!]

Nobody needs 23 kinds of property.

[Smith1]

It is a lack of resources. In this day and age of cameras everywhere, coupled with serial numbers/identifying tags on bikes, they are not that hard to solve. It is police ignoring the law as they are too stretched to bother with it. The same is true in Amsterdam. Bike theft is rampant. And largely ignored.

[Foo_dd]

i think you vastly overestimate how many things have serial numbers and how many people ever bother to record them if the do..... and then there is the problem of all the illegal searches that would be required for cops to actually find them on the bike that someone else currently has.

bike theft has always been hard to solve..... and there will never be a solution that does not violate people's basic rights.

[Bobster0]

A self destruct mechanism built into the bike would work. Cut the chain and "BOOM". That would cut down on the stealing.

[SRG2]

I had about five bikes stolen when I still lived there. The last one was chained to wrought-iron railings with a Kryptonite lock. The thieves probably used plumber's spray to freeze the rail rendering the iron brittle, smashed it with a hammer to break the railing (the broken rail was left on the ground) , removed the bike and then later worked on the lock.

Good to see my old party on the case.

[Think It Through]

What is the skin color of the bicycle owner, and the bicycle thief?

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

Raw pink, if he's not a good rider.

[Johninsd]

In San Diego bicycle theft is a cottage industry for the homeless. Chop shops operate with impunity, the police don't do a thing. I don't know who buys the stolen bikes but somebody must.

[Vernon Depner]

Sort of like catalytic converter theft. The police know the scrapping and recycling businesses that buy them, but don't do anything, for reasons easy to imagine.

[LIBertrans]

Has England successfully banned women from carrying concealed knives yet? I recall this was aired as a good idea back when Army of Allah activists were shooting, looting and raping all over Yourup with little interference. So raise your hand if you expect law enforcement Over There to suddenly stop bike thieves. (Let's not see the same hands ALL the time!)

[TJJ2000]

Here they just call that collecting taxes.