Even though I locked it, my bicycle also was stolen in Barcelona in 15 minutes in middle of city.
What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
321–330 of 356 posts
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#322Earlier quoted context omitted.
Knowingly purchasing stolen goods is already illegal in most places. The key is the "knowingly" part. You would have to have a ubiquitous BikeID system in a central registry of stolen bikes. It would have to be incredibly easy to check the status of a BikeID (web/email/phone/sms). It would have to have incredible traction. At that point if someone bought a bike which was tagged in the system as stolen, and didn't che…
Why would a purchaser, after paying, ever check a stolen registry? So they can add themselves to the list of victims as well? Pre-transaction diligence is workable, post-transaction checks are a non-starter.
Just to avoid getting into legal trouble, for starters.
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
Various Police forces also do cycle marking for free, worth checking the website of your local force. This isn't UV ink but a unique number that is etched into the frame (they've different etches for different frame materials, I've had both steel and carbon fibre frames done). MET: http://www.met.police.uk/transport/cycle_marking.html BTP: http://www.btp.police.uk/neighbourhood_policing/london_south...
Always used to be postcodes stamped on an unobstrusive bit of the frame when I was a kid (a looooong time ago).
Yup, I had the same on my bike of 25 years ago! Not easily transferred though if you wanted to sell the bike to someone else.
The unique number etched into the frame can be transferred though. The one you get free from the UK Police is the same as the Silver Kit here: https://www.bikeregister.com/
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
Care to back that up? Does the US really have that much more crime that justifies locking up more people? Recent stuff I've read on this agrees with Cass ( http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/01/30/120... ).
I don't give a damn about statistics. I want to be able to live anywhere in the US safely. Would you allow your 6yo to walk alone at night through any city in the US? I think you should be able to. I think a person should be able to live anywhere in the US without encountering violence on a daily basis, without hearing gunshots every night. Because that isn't true, I think there is too much crime.
> I don't give a damn about statistics.
This is a surprising stance to encounter on HN. The article I linked to asserted that although crime in NYC has gone drastically down, incarceration rates have not gone up. I found that interesting, do you?
Elsewhere in this thread you suggest executing bike thieves as they commit theft, and although I'm not sure you were entirely serious, I'm afraid we're going to agree on much about this issue.
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#325Earlier quoted context omitted.
Freakonomics discusses the exact same factor with drug dealing and the oldest profession - adding risk to the seller results in increasing margins which attracts more sellers; whereas adding risk to the buyer results in the margins dropping too low to be worth even a small risk for the seller. Also, when I see somebody on a re-sprayed bike, that hasn't obviously been re-sprayed with purely artistic intent, I want to…
My bike has been re-painted because the old paint was coming off. I guess that counts as another excuse.
Well, luckily I wouldn't hurt a fly, so none of your type have been harmed :).
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#326Bike theft seems like one of those quality-of-life crimes (like graffiti and coercive squeegee-monkeys) that's begging for some kind of creative enforcement strategy. - If there's an open-air bike market at 7th and Market, it seems like you could use some of the same strategies that have been used to shut down open-air drug markets. - Police in the greater Vancouver area have had a lot of success with bait cars, but…
How about a pressurized U-lock that releases a neon-pink paint cloud if the cylinder or restraining bar is cut-through? I guess the trick would be making it get on the thief and all over the bicycle. The best would be if it also stank to high heaven.
You'd probably be sued for damage to clothing and emotional stress.
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#327Earlier quoted context omitted.
I now have napkin designs of just this. I got hit by what seems to be some kind of paradox: old casual bikes are targeted more often than expensive flashy ones.
For a reason I can't reply to you brk but I used the same ideas. My last question was about communicating openly or not about it. - Openly would make robber aware and probably come up with attacks or blocking means, but that would surely render their activities a lot more complicated. Could be mass-produced. - Secretly a few people would have it and use it as bait, and authorities being aware of the scheme would casu…
The cellular+GPS is a commercial product:
http://www.spybike-gps.com/products-gps-localization/top-cap...
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#328Bike theft seems like one of those quality-of-life crimes (like graffiti and coercive squeegee-monkeys) that's begging for some kind of creative enforcement strategy. - If there's an open-air bike market at 7th and Market, it seems like you could use some of the same strategies that have been used to shut down open-air drug markets. - Police in the greater Vancouver area have had a lot of success with bait cars, but…
I heard a story, but I have no idea whether it's true: bike shop in San Francisco leaves very shiny, high end bike outside. Thief hops on bike, heads down hill to make a quick getaway. Thief soon discovers that the bicycle's brake cables are not connected. CRASH.
This is a very middle-class idea, if you don't mind me saying. Most of the bikes we had growing up were cobbled together from bits of other old bikes, and the method of stopping was to use the arch of your foot in the space at the back where the brakes should be.
It wore out one shoe faster then the other, but you could do cool skids.
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#329When I was a kid (GET OFF MY LAWN!!!) We used to be able to register our bikes with the police department. They'd stamp a registration number onto the frame of the bike using lettered taps and a hammer. The only way to take off the registration is to either file it down or cover it over, in either case a clear indication the bike is stolen. I got a bike stolen 3 times. Twice I got one back when the police found it (o…
They used to do this in D.C. , but the problem was engraving into your new bike will void the frame warranty. The police used to use this registration as a way to stop any bike messenger and check if your bike was registered. If it wasn't they impounded it and you had to pay a fine to get it back, usually $5.
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#330When I was a college student, I had my bikes stolen so often that I did two things: First, I started buying hot bikes cheap because, hey, legal bikes were expensive.
Second, I wrapped the frame of one bike in masking tape and smeared grease and paint on it. I kept that one for years; not even the local junkies wanted it. I guess they didn't notice my servicable Campy brakes and shifters, or didn't see the value in them.
I'm not sure the rational-actor theory applies to bike theft.
UNLESS it's the bike dealers behind the theft rings doing it to create demand, and they're just crushing the old stuff. Bwahahahahahaha. There's a batman movie in that villain theory.