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Where do stolen bikes go?

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Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#71

Post by jimnotgym »

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…

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!

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#72

Post by jacquesm »

lucumo wrote: post #13

This is not really surprising to locals. The joke was always that if your bike is stolen when you get back, you'd just steal another one and keep the circulation going. During the 90s the stories were about heroin junkies selling bikes for 25 NLG (11.34 EUR). Clearly not the type of people with the organizational skills to set up an international crime syndicate. These were stories, and it's good/interesting to check…

> (Another common observational joke about inner city bikes is that the value of the locks commonly exceed the value of the bikes they lock.)

Note attached to my uncle's thesis (he's a physics PhD): 'The sum of the weight of bicycle and lock is a constant.'

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#73

Post by kyrra »

There is a wide sidewalk that runs under a four-lane road right next to my office. During COVID that underpass became a homeless camp and bike chop shop. When they reopen the office, I could sit and watch out the window as people were bringing bikes down there and was able to watch them take them apart for parts (presumably to sell).

The cops obviously knew of it, as they would visit it regularly.

The cops eventually shut it down and it took the city a couple weeks to fully clean it out of all the refuse that was built up.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#74

Post by jimnotgym »

blamazon wrote: post #51
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…

> My anecdote appears to confirm that bikes stolen in Oxford don't stay in Oxford. I've never been to Oxford but I'm guessing it has a lower density of bicycles per square meter than Amsterdam. Presumably it's easier for stolen bikes to 'blend in' in Amsterdam?

I have been to Oxford and I would not be so sure!

Bikes are everywhere in Oxford, probably due to the Uni

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#75

Post by seanmcdirmid »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #19
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Seattle, high end bikes are targeted to be disassembled for components. The components can then easily be fenced for drug money.

I remember my co-worker at the bike shop talking about this and how people in the area will sand their frames down and remove labels and anything else that would give their bike a look and feel of being expensive. Even adding duct and black electrical tape to ward off thieves from going after their bikes.

Sounds like a good strategy. I've seen people throw trash in their car parked on the street to dissuade having their window bashed in. Add some tape to the exterior, make your car look as junkie as possible. These are the days we are living in.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#76

Post by p0wn »

I had my bikes stolen this year from Portland, OR. They were in Mexico on a craigslist like site within a week. Crazy crime rings happening now.

Police don't do anything and FBI isn't going to get involved.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#77

Post by LorenPechtel »

maximinus_thrax wrote: post #52
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…

> 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…

And the homeowner is the occupant?? Probably not. Criminals like to move around.

I do have a big problem with the police ignoring cases handed them on a sliver platter even if they are minor, though. Doing this makes it effectively legal to commit said crime.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#78

Post by guy98238710 »

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.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#79

Post by shiftpgdn »

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…

I had this with a stolen iphone in Houston, Texas. I called the local police and they said they couldn't help, I told the operator that's okay, I have a gun and I'll go retrieve it myself. An officer was standing in front of me 10 minutes later. We got the phone back.

Re: Where do stolen bikes go?

#80

Post by ozim »

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…

I did not hear about VanMoof earlier but my buddy called police (Amsterdam area of course) once when he found his bike and he wanted to be good citizen so he did not want to just steal it back from some backyard.

Well police helped him recover the bike without arresting anyone and told him next time he should just steal it back and don't bother them.

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