Avon and Somerset Police 'steal' bikes to test reaction

[Simon_m]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-20248535

 

[MisterStan]

Well he won't be working undercover again any time soon...

 

[Drago]

Have they not got some real work to do?

 

[User482]

There is a perception (with some justification) that the police aren't interested in bike thefts, so why are they surprised that nobody intervened?

 

[Simon_m]

Maybe crime has got so bad now with what we read in the news, that stealing bikes now is perceived as not a serious crime and we don't want to call 999 for something like that.

 

[apb]

I think it's more likely people feel it's got nothing to do with them, It's not affecting them so they'll mind their own business.

The same reactions would probably be witnessed if he was stealing a car.

That's the reality of the modern age.

 

[goo_mason]

I've given up calling the police about anything. Each time I do, they seem to threaten to come round and arrest me instead (once for holding on to a bag of belongings dropped by some kids trying to steal from our stair after I chased them out - rather than came round and take it as evidence the police told me they'd come round and do me for theft unless I went out, found the kids and handed it back; next time for taking photos as evidence of teenagers trashing a fleet of vans in a yard behind my flat because the police didn't want to come round the corner from their station to catch them in the act after 10 - 15 neighbours repeatedly called them. Apparently I must have been some kind of paedophile for taking pictures of them in the act of causing thousands of pounds worth of damage).

Makes me wonder whether they'd do me for stealing a knife if anyone decided to plunge one into me and run off.

 

[RiflemanSmith]

I woke up a 3:30am and an alarm was going off that sound like my motorbike alarm.
I looked out the window and saw a crew cutting the chain on my brand spanking new ZX6R.
Chased them up the road and watched them throw it in the back of a sprinter, ran back to my house to phone the police.
They said go to your local station and report it stolen, I was like "the farking alarm is still going off in the back of the van why don't you send some one!".
Needless to say I didn't go in to report it stolen.
I have had two Ninjas stolen 4 mountain bikes and an official Arsenal bike that cost £500 about 10 years ago never even heard a dickie bird!

 

[Oldspice]

Click link for video

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20248847

Avon and Somerset police have carried out an experiment to demonstrate how easy it is for bike thieves to get away unchallenged in broad daylight.
They locked up a bike and an officer went with bolt cutters to ''steal'' it. Around 50 people saw it and not a single person reported the theft.
Jenny Hill reports.

And for more of the story go here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-20248535

 

[Tommy2]

Maybe 10 or 15 years ago people would intervene but nowadays is it worth risking your life for your own bike let alone somebody else's, I wouldn't take the risk of getting put in hospital or worse for a bike I'm sad to say.

 

[Spartak]

Have they not got some real work to do?

Yes lots, I had a bike nicked in Central Bristol a few years ago.
They were about as useful as a chocolate kettle !

 

[Simon_m]

Doesn't sound good does it. There are just no police about now-a-days. You can see this in the way people act as they know they aren't going to get caught. Driving through red lights now, (this is just what I see), seems to be on the increase, motorbikes driving in cycle lanes and into the ASL. Raiding that store in Brent Cross. The sheer boldness of it! The riots last year and the subsequent looting, people know they aren't going to get caught, so that do more things as they know they will get away with it. Do i speed on the motorway? possibly, why? Because I know there are no cops about to pull me over. Do i jump red lights on a bike, nope, because I'm good and like to set an example lol. Go figure that one out. Anyway, rant over

 

[Lee_M]

motorbikes driving in cycle lanes

I didnt realise that was illegal

 

[cloggsy]

Well he won't be working undercover again any time soon...

I don't think many PCSO's do undercover work

 

[MisterStan]

I don't think many PCSO's do undercover work

FTFY