The Irish Times - The bicycle thieves move up a gear - 10 September 2011

Amalgam

The bicycle thieves move up a gear
The Irish Times - Saturday, September 10, 2011
CONOR LALLY, Crime Corespondent

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0910/1224303828309.html

The Bike to Work scheme has flooded the streets with expensive bicycles that can be stolen in less time than it takes to lock them properly

WHEN THE CAR pulls up to the kerb outside a Dublin pub there’s nothing remarkable to see. It stops briefly beside a signpost where a new Trek mountain bike is chained, then drives out of the view of the car-park cameras. Less than five minutes later the car returns. This time there’s more action..

Interesting figures for Cork, you'd think it'd be higher than 200 ish.

DePurpereWolf

I thought the garda didnt make a good case here.
Yes, more people have bicycles, yes, they are of better quality. The garda should then step up their game to prevent these bicycles from being stolen.
Not say something stupid that i'ts the bike-to-work schemes fault. It's not like they couldn't see this coming. Dublin wants to be a more bike friendly town for a couple of years now.
That also includes save ways of parking your bike.

One good point was to have a certain centralized register for bicycles. I have to agree to the garda that there isn't really all that much that they can do. But informing people on how to lock their bike is also part of their job. wouldn't you agree?

About the difference in Cork to Dublin figures. Bike theft is always higher in bigger cities. Also, there is probably more parking in Cork. CIT and UCC are not in the city centre, while TCD and DIT are, I think that many of the bikes on the south side are students'.

Lumen

DePurpereWolf wrote: »

I thought the garda didnt make a good case here. Yes, more people have bicycles, yes, they are of better quality. The garda should then step up their game to prevent these bicycles from being stolen.

The gardai are necessarily focused on crimes against the person, not petty property theft from people too ignorant, lazy or cheapskate to lock their bikes properly.

IMO it's more of a retail problem, with bike shops stocking crap cable locks and not making clear that they're only useful in urban areas as secondary locks.

The bike shops will argue that customers don't want to pay €50 for a lock, so they have to stock the crap ones. I'm sure their attitude would change if they were held legally responsible for the advice.

"Please sign here under the 'Sheldon Lock Strategy' picture to accept that you're buying an inadequate lock".

rp

explains the mystery of the dented top-tubes, anyway:

“You see guys who have locked the bike by the crossbar to a post on the street. But a robber can actually pick up the bike and turn it, and use it as a big lever to keep turning until the locks pop open.”

happytramp

I wonder if it would work if there was some sort of secure online database that bike shops could enter the serial number of every bike they sold and the name of the customer who bought it. Surely that wouldn't be too difficult to implement.

Lumen

happytramp wrote: »

I wonder if it would work if there was some sort of secure online database that bike shops could enter the serial number of every bike they sold and the name of the customer who bought it. Surely that wouldn't be too difficult to implement.

That's only useful for stolen bikes that get recovered. Unless you're suggesting stopping skangers and checking their frame numbers.

DePurpereWolf

It's also easy to steal a car, in fairness. But cars are so hard to move in Ireland, it's an island and your licence plate is recorded when you use the ferry.

In mainland europe gangs will stake a car, steel it and before the owner knows it's stolen it would be across the border on it's way to eastern europe.

My point is, even better locks won't withold gangs from steeling bicycles. Soon enough they will have a van and someone with a cutting torch or rotary blade. They haven't yet because there are enough edeits with tie-rip locks.

As long as they can move the bikes, they will find a way to steel the them.

bcmf

DePurpereWolf wrote: »

.

As long as they can move the bikes, they will find a way to steel the them.

100%. Same applies to all goods. Once there are people willing to buy stolen goods there will be people willing to steal them.

Lumen

bcmf wrote: »

100%. Same applies to all goods. Once there are people willing to buy stolen goods there will be people willing to steal them.

That's simply not true. A quick Google suggests that car theft in the UK has decreased 80% over the last 20 years, almost certainly due to improved security technology (e.g. engine immobilisers).

Most petty criminals tend to nick whatever's easiest to steal and shift, taking into account the downside risks (e.g. how seriously they will be punished if caught). If bikes were locked better they'd move on to something else.

Your average scummer is not going to bother with an angle grinder on a public street in the middle of the day.

DePurpereWolf

http://www.sbd.co.uk/uknews/post/Are-UK-statistics-telling-the-full-story-on-car-theft.aspx

Ah, the murky world of statistics.
Did all crime go down? Did poverty go down? Did police efforts to thward car theft go up?

I don't think the statement I made can either be proven wrong or right, not with statistics at least.

bcmf

Lumen wrote: »

That's simply not true. A quick Google suggests that car theft in the UK has decreased 80% over the last 20 years, almost certainly due to improved security technology (e.g. engine immobilisers).

Most petty criminals tend to nick whatever's easiest to steal and shift, taking into account the downside risks (e.g. how seriously they will be punished if caught). If bikes were locked better they'd move on to something else.

Your average scummer is not going to bother with an angle grinder on a public street in the middle of the day.

With the obvious exception of joyriding - most crimes , I believe, would be to move goods on and for the thief to profit from it.
Yes there are some crimes which happen out of sheer ,lets call it , divilment!

Jawgap

I think the stats show that bikes in Dublin are clearly being robbed by culchies travelling up from Cork and Galway:)

BostonB

The vast majority of the bikes I see on the street or at work are either not locked or locked with a very poor quality lock. So its hardly surprising they get stolen.

Chartsengrafs

Shocking amount of bikes in both my work and apartment complex locked solely to a quick release wheel. Crazy.

Wishbone Ash

BostonB wrote: »

or locked with a very poor quality lock. So its hardly surprising they get stolen.

I saw a MTB in Skerries recently locked with a chain that would normally be used for hanging baskets and 'secured' with what looked like a luggage lock!!

velo.2010

Interesting to think that tonight some scumbags are swotting up on their pricey road/mountain bikes to note what to swipe tommorow and beyond.