The what can we do about the bike thefts thread

[aShogunNamedMarcus]

And I dont mean locking them up everywhere and anywhere. Or insurance. These are hard earned expensive machines that the police dont seem to give two shits about. I believe we are all targets and some more than others.

How can we go about this as a lobby group of sorts to get some recognition that this is a larger problem than the po leece realize. Sure they have other bad ass criminals to catch but that just leaves it up to us.

No crazy ass vigilante talk either .. unless you're serious and then pm me.

[Rat]

all you need is the attention of the cops


catching these guys would be easy with some form of bait bike program. I believe GPS tracking technology is pretty cheap these days

[Master Stacker]

Yeah- I remember there was an article in Bike a while back (last year) about the bait bikes in some city that had cut down on bike crime so much that even in the middle of the ghetto, you could lean your bike against a fence and come back to it an hour later and it would still be there. The problem I see with this is it would be kind of obvious it's a bait bike when its just leaning against a fence or a curb. Now if they'd leave it in the back of a truck or a front yard or something realistic, it might not seem like a bait bike and you actually nab a bike theif who's doing it for a living rather than a crackhead coming upon an opportunity he can't pass up.

[DaveM]

Trouble is, who pays for it? The Bait Car program is heavily sponsored by ICBC, since they take the biggest hit on car theft. There really isn't anyone to fund a bait bike program.

I have a contact at Ecomm, I'll ask.

Lots of bikes in the bike theft forum are still stolen because they are left unattended, and or unlocked. Come on guys, are you thinking?

[biopace]

You're right about ICBC. Part of the car thefts comes out of their pockets. If there was a single entity that we all insured our bikes with, then maybe there would be pressure to get something done.

Ideally we could have a theft insurance program run through cyclingbc.

[DaveM]

This is interesting

[Bryce]

i think we'd hafta be the ICBC and RCMP on this one. Provide bait bikes, the PegTeck stuff, a couple cars, and some hard-hittin n!$@as with pipes

[biopace]

What about getting CyclingBC / NSMBA to donate a Pegtech unit to VPD, and then working with them to catch these thieves? Since many of our bikes are worth over $5000, it becomes a much more serious crime.

http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/poli.../2005mar09.htm

Cost of Crime:

Last year more than 5,000 homes in Vancouver were invaded by thieves. In the first two months of this year in just one area of the city more than 900 cars had their windows smashed and personal items stolen.

Crime Stats from 2004

Bicycle theft $1,600,000
Damage during bicycle theft $77,500Laptop theft $2,960,000
Damage during laptop theft $80,160

Insurance claims paid in Vancouver in 2004

Bicycles and sports equipment $10,600,000 (no break down for bikes alone)
Electronic equipment including T.V.

[mattj]

I would rather have the bike thieves focusing on Super8s leaning against the 7eleven unattended than developing ways to break into my apartment and steal my bikes. I personally am grateful to the spoiled brats who leave their bikes sitting unattended in the open begging to be ripped off, because they're indirectly keeping the criminals' attention off me and my bikes...


-m

[Coop]

i agree with you mattj, to a point, however there has been stories of people being followed home from the mtn and getting 'cased', and organized bike theft rings that are probably not getting their bread and butter from outside 7-11.