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Where do stolen bikes go?

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Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#161

Post by syndacks »

bckygldstn wrote: post #21

There's a Dutch bike company (VanMoof) that offers a Theft Recovery service for their bikes: they have teams of people that track down the bike (using GPS primarily) and basically steal it back. They used to produce monthly videos of bike recovery operations, though it looks like they've stopped the videos so you'll have to scroll past a few years of promo videos: https://www.youtube.com/@vanmoof Often they recover t…

Vanmoof is a shit company with shit bikes and even more shit customer service. Purely aesthetics and marketing. Stay away.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#162

Post by satyajitrai »

I grew up in a village in India with most people with very low income but pretty large population around. I almost never heard of a bike theft. I wonder why places like US and Netherlands have such large incidents of bike theft?

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#163

Post by winter_blue »

denton-scratch wrote: post #102
kerpotgh wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still, you’re implying the use of a deadly weapon on someone else’s property. That’s going to get you in trouble.

Well, I considered warning the WM police that I was going to rock up at the thieves' front door, and ask them nicely to give me back my property. And warning the cops that I expected a breach of the peace to occur, becauase I thought it was likely they would beat me up. Failing to take measures to prevent a breach of the peace that they had been warned about would be bad publicity, at best. But I'm not inclined to ta…

How hard would it be be to get a gun (even a hunting rifle) or other weapons in the UK?

If you did tell the police that you were going to take the law into your own hands, what would happen?

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#164

Post by lotophage »

spiritplumber wrote: post #125
p1esk wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine the situation you described. Was he just standing there having a conversation with you?

yes because he was in my neighbor's back yard and there was only one way out unless he could jump a 5' fence. not sure where my neighbor was at the time. she's a french teacher so this guy got off lucky that i got to him first, lol

What would she do to him? Make him conjugate irregular French verbs?

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#165

Post by winter_blue »

wyager wrote: post #137
baremetal wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also: you are not allowed to protect your own property. Call the police instead.

Anarcho-tyranny: the police will not enforce the law, but they will punish you if you enforce it yourself.

> Anarcho-tyranny: the police will not enforce the law, but they will punish you if you enforce it yourself.

This is a truly horrible state of affairs. Case in point, this is unfortunately super common in Canada: [1] (these stories might shock you) https://www.kruselaw.ca/library/using-reasonable-force-to-de... [2] https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1230/index... [3] https://whatthelaw.com/blog/self-defence-laws-in-canada-myth...

Canada takes Christ’s Sermon on the Mount message of “do not resist an evil person” (https://biblehub.com/matthew/5-39.htm) into the reality of practical applied law, by punishing those who defend themselves.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#166

Post by winter_blue »

dazc wrote: post #57
forinti wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So at what value do they start to consider doing their job?

It isn't about the value of property, it's about the effort required and chances of improving future career prospects. Recovering stolen bikes is, therefore, very low priority. I had a similar experience where I followed a bike thief to his home, again police not interested. Police forces in the UK have various campaigns where they will, for example, spend a month targeting a particular crime or social nuisance. With…

What would happened if your were to obtain some weapons, and attempt to execute the recovery by yourself?

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#167

Post by xrd »

satyajitrai wrote: post #162

I grew up in a village in India with most people with very low income but pretty large population around. I almost never heard of a bike theft. I wonder why places like US and Netherlands have such large incidents of bike theft?

I was reading this article and thinking the same thing.

My friend had an expensive electric bike. It got stolen. He's a teacher but his wife is a well paid doctor.

He posted somewhere that the bike was stolen. Surprisingly, someone contacted him and told him they found it.

It was really strange the way the "finder" offered to return it. They had them meet them in another suburb 30 minutes away. They requested a substantial reward. The whole thing was strange.

It makes me think that there are people who live in a grey economy that steal bikes because they aren't hurting someone in the same way that breaking into a house or stealing a car would hurt someone (or worse). Bikes are a luxury good at the high end, and that's what my friend lost.

Bike thievery is a gateway to a decent income when you have no other choices. At least that's what it seemed like when my friend had that experience. It seemed like it was a well thought out scam that was done by someone with intelligence and desperation.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#168

Post by ipaddr »

denton-scratch wrote: post #70
denton-scratch wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I mean you can prove they're in possession of your property. To be pedantic, I can only prove they're in possession of the GPS tracker. That cost about £250. Yes, we have small claims. I think it costs about £50. I'd love to have (partially) got my own back; but I was very much conscious that these people might not be very nice people, and they knew where I lived. I could have hired thieves to steal it back, I supp…

On reflection, I guess I could have sued them for the value of the bike; it would have been a civil case, so it wouldn't have depended on proof, just on the balance of probabilities. I doubt they would have contested it; it would have been an easy win. But they might have paid me a visit and set fire to my flat.

Or you might have prevented them from murdering someone. The probably of them coming back and burning your house down come from television but in reality this is not a murder case where they are threatening you not to appear. This isn't so personal that the 250 dollars will cause them spend time/money on a payback plan. Judging by their car they make a lot more than that nightly and you will never see a dime of that court winning.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#169

Post by jacquesm »

0cVlTeIATBs wrote: post #153
jacquesm wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a joke...

Are the police good-humored? Or is it not on the form, but a quip to poke fun at law enforcement, or at common bike "borrowing" in the city?

The latter.

It isn't rare at all to have your bike stolen and the less fortunate have a choice of buying a new one or a second hand one, and that second hand one my be of questionable provenance. Bought on a bridge was an expression when I lived in Amsterdam.

I've yet to have a bike stolen but I've always been completely paranoid about it taking my bike into stores and apartments :) This is a lot easier with a Brompton than with my current bike though.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#170

Post by rhaway84773 »

denton-scratch wrote: post #30

I had a £2,000 electric bike stolen in Oxford. No worries - it had a GPS tracker, and I could see it heading to Birmingham up the M40. Also, my neighbour had CCTV footage. You couldn't make out the faces or number-plate, but you could see it was a black Mercedes. It was taken at about 3AM. So they had "liberated" the bike (it was locked up), and immediately headed out of town. I'm sure it was scouted, then they came…

In the US you get renters or homeowners insurance. They usually cover stuff like bikes.
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