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Where do stolen bikes go?

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Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#171

Post by zdragnar »

yodsanklai wrote: post #120
maximinus_thrax wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They weren't interested - they told me to contact West Midlands police. So I rang them. No, they were not going to investigate: "Don't you realize how many Porsches are stolen in this city every day?" Also, they said they can't just walk in and have a look around (I guess they need a warrant, which is fair enough; but then why not get a warrant?) I've seen/heard this numerous times. Cops really don't give a shit ab…

This is scandalous. I wonder if you could somehow sue the police for not doing their job, or report the guy who refused to investigate.

There seems to be some silly misconception that police sit around twiddling their thumbs doing their level best to ignore crime. The truth is there is far more crime being reported than they can possibly respond to, especially in places like Seattle (which has the highest per-capita rate of property crime overall in the nation, iirc).

On top of that, police staffing levels are at historic lows in some cities- in Seattle, they're at a 30-year low.

If someone isn't in immediate danger, and the situation isn't evolving, the item stolen is particularly mobile and difficult to identify (such as a commodity bike), and not worth a lot of money (cars worth much more are stolen every day) it's going to be way at the bottom of their priority list.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#172

Post by Scoundreller »

felipemnoa wrote: post #118
londons_explore wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are $25 bikes that I buy in bulk and just use around the city for me and my friends. They're locked with $2 combination locks, sometimes just to a plant. It really isn't surprising they go missing, but they're cheaper than a rental bike.

Care to post a link to a picture of these $25 dollars bikes. They almost sound mythical.

Yeah, anything minimally operational would sell for $150+ in Toronto

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#173

Post by Scoundreller »

asdff wrote: post #105
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In high theft areas, insurance is jacked up because the risk is so high. If you are getting your bike stolen every 3 or 4 months, the insurance company has already adjusted your premium so that they aren't losing money. Insurance is great for rare unpredictable events. It is not cost-effective at all for common predictable events.

I live in a county with almost 100k homeless people, and I pay another $1 a month on my renters insurance policy (itself around $12) to insure the bike with no deductable. It really is cheap if you use renters or homeowners insurance. I'm sure many of those "bike specific" insurance policies nickel and dime since the pool is probably a lot smaller.

Your insurance keeps renewing at the same rate after 1 or more claims???

Can you identify the insurer so I can short their stock?

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#174

Post by Scoundreller »

eythian wrote: post #126
akira2501 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the article stated “We thought bikes might be stolen and sent abroad." I nearly spat out my coffee. It really is amusing to watch MIT laboratory types spend a bunch of time and effort to rediscover what was plainly known beforehand.

Eh, in Amsterdam you'll get plenty of people mentioning that there's people in vans who go and steal a bunch of bikes at night (scoping them and sometimes locking them with their own lock during the day), and driving them off to somewhere in Eastern Europe. I'm not sure particularly of the truth of this, beyond this article suggesting it's probably not the case, but it's definitely something in the popular consciousn…

Thing is, "dutch bikes" often don't have a great reputation. Few moving parts, so very reliable, but slow as fuck. Single speed, so crap for anywhere with even tiny hills. Rear coaster brakes. Front drum brakes if you're lucky. Again, problematic if you can gain speed on a decline or otherwise need to stop quickly because you have inadequate bicycle infra. 10kg of low-grade steel tube and heavy af steel wheels (stuff that spins is effectively 2x as heavy).

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#175

Post by Scoundreller »

guy98238710 wrote: post #78

Local journalists (Bratislava, Slovakia) used these trackers to prove that some separated waste is being burned instead of being recycled. The company responsible for waste processing lost its contract with the city after the story was published. Trackers can be quite effective when used right.

I have a bridge to sell anyone that thinks plastics sent overseas are being recycled instead of incinerated for their caloric value.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#176

Post by mycall »

isoprophlex wrote: post #10

Once I lost a bike that was parked right outside my house. Couple of days later I saw a guy ride around on my bike! I sprinted over and somewhat aggressively yelled "you're on my bike, buddy!" He got off, very politely handed me back my bike, and thanked me for letting him borrow it. Almost made me feel like I was the bad guy in the situation. Anyway I guess in some cases, a stolen bike doesn't go far at all.

Is it unethical to buy a "cheap" replacement bicycle if your previous one was stolen?

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#177

Post by bendbro »

I don't think we need to be shaming people for having equity emergencies. We can assume these bikes will be sold to fund self administered mental health treatment, food, rent, or college.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#178

Post by RHSeeger »

fknorangesite wrote: post #110
jimnotgym wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also...I saw regular drug dealing from a house and told police multiple times...no action. I told my councillor who lives on the same street. They spoke to the community officer about it, they put two CSO's (Police Community Support Officer. Civilians dressed like police, no power of arrest!) in a car to watch the place. A few days later it was raided at 5am by a huge force. It really matters who you are!

> Civilians dressed like police All police are civilians. Don't let them tell you otherwise.

By what definition, because Merriam Webster says otherwise [1]

> one not on active duty in the armed services or not on a police or firefighting force

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/civilian

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#179

Post by blhack »

I had a bike stolen at burning man, and it ended up in NEW ZEALAND! I couldn't believe it.

I was able to track it for a little while via the tile app, but it eventually stopped being available. Would have been such a cool story to get it back.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kiwis-on-a-mission-to-find-ele...

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#180

Post by KennyBlanken »

galangalalgol wrote: post #155
girvo wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s worrying though. It’s part of the social contract, and I worry about vigilantism rising if cops not doing anything about the majority of crime that affects most normal people is ignored, and that gets worse.

It already is rising, with all the false positives and prejudice induced mistakes you would expect. A Kenyan I know said vigilantism there relies on setting up bait for thieves and having multiple members of the community lie in wait. The thief that takes the bait is caught red handed, beaten severely, and often doused in petrol and burned alive. I said I was sure that probably kept theft pretty low, and he replied i…

Which is why it's more effective to provide proper social safety net programs, work to provide economic opportunity, treat the criminal justice system and detention as rehabilitation, not punishment - and at the very least not have systems that encourage further economic stratification and the concentration of wealth.

US states with the death penalty have significantly higher murder rates than those without...

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