Bike Theft Decriminalised

[vickster]

If your cycle is stolen and cycle theft is Decriminalised at your train station then how will you get a crime number to claim on your cycle insurance ?

did you read the link? The decriminalised is in inverted commas in the artcle headline...the first sentence actually is... The British Transport Police (BTP) says it will not investigate bike thefts outside stations where the bicycle has been left for more than two hours.
Presumably you can still report and get a crime number

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Just get chatgpt to be alert to the felons in real time.

We need a proper AI not ChatGPT that sits at the end of the line 0800-CALL-SEXY

 

[Punkawallah]

If your cycle is stolen and cycle theft is Decriminalised at your train station then how will you get a crime number to claim on your cycle insurance ?

Be aware, if the bike is recovered (in whatever condition) it might affect the insurance payment.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Mod Note:
Political point of views plus quotes of, have been deleted.
Please keep it apolitical or open a thread in NCA&P
Cheers from the Mods.

 

[steveindenmark]

It would appear that police forces have no idea of the cost of a bike.

If these are being taken at train stations it comes under the British Transport Police and not the county police.

The mainstream excuse at one time was that they were too busy looking for terrorists, which was ridiculous.

It is theft and it is police work. The public want it investigating along with other crimes.

 

[figbat]

I’m still puzzled about the two hour cutoff. Is there an enhanced chance of detection under two hours? Who parks a bike at a station for under two hours?

 

[FrankCrank]

They say any bike stolen worth less than 200 quid will not be investigated.
Guess that includes me then, the one I ride into town back there, and leave for many hours, cost a tenner.
Recently acquired another one for a fiver, just in case. Come to think of it, all my bikes combined fall below the 200 quid threashhold

 

[Brandane]

They say any bike stolen worth less than 200 quid will not be investigated.
Guess that includes me then, the one I ride into town back there, and leave for many hours, cost a tenner.
Recently acquired another one for a fiver, just in case. Come to think of it, all my bikes combined fall below the 200 quid threashhold

But if it gets stolen from a train station, when you report it and the Police ask what the value of it was, you now know the answer. "£250, officer". Value is subjective, after all.

 

[FrankCrank]

But if it gets stolen from a train station, when you report it and the Police ask what the value of it was, you now know the answer. "£250, officer". Value is subjective, after all.

It's an old Raleigh Stowaway from the seventies. Could say it was a Chopper era, rare, vintage, collectable..................................nuh.

 

[Brandane]

vintage

Double it then, and add a zero.

 

[fossyant]

It's very simple, don't leave a bike that is 'valuable to you' anywhere. My commuter is over 30 years old, but still a valuable to me and reliable bit of transport - I don't leave that in anything other than a secure space. Many bikes left 'outside' work are quickly striped for parts. The police don't have enough resources to investigate this sort of crime.

 

[Brandane]

It's very simple, don't leave a bike that is 'valuable to you' anywhere. My commuter is over 30 years old, but still a valuable to me and reliable bit of transport - I don't leave that in anything other than a secure space. Many bikes left 'outside' work are quickly striped for parts. The police don't have enough resources to investigate this sort of crime.

I agree with your post, other than the first 3 words "It's very simple"....
It isn't always very simple. There have been times when as a solo tourer, I find myself in areas where I would rather not leave my bike unattended, i.e. any city you care to mention in the UK.. However, I do have to use the toilet now and again. As a result of other public service cutbacks, public toilets are not easy to find. So my solution usually involves a visit to a pub, or a large supermarket, or a bigger branch of M&S, or John Lewis if I am looking for a more luxurious (and usually clean!!) experience. Unfortunately this means locking the bike to something solid for maybe 15 minutes or so by the time you find the toilet within said shop, do your business, and return to the bike. Plenty time for someone with an angle grinder to have made off with your bike.
As a retired Police Officer, it pains me to say it, but I probably wouldn't even waste my time reporting any bike theft - unless insurance company insist on it (and I probably wouldn't even claim insurance by the time they take off excess and then increase premium it wouldn't be worth it). I know how much effort got put into bike theft 20 years ago (i.e. not a lot), and it has got worse; much worse since then. I think we just need to accept that as cyclists, bike theft is just an occupational hazard. That is why I won't spend much on a bike that I might have to leave unattended, even for that 15 minutes in M&S! I do have a couple of nicer bikes which as you say, I wouldn't let out of my sight, but that makes them a bit impractical for anything other than a few hours "there and back" rides from home - which isn't what cycling is about, for me.

 

[Dogtrousers]

This is one of the reasons* I don't do any utility cycling. If I had to lock a bike up outside I'd need to buy another bike, as I wouldn't risk one of my nice bikes.

* Other reasons are simply that I do all my utility travel on foot or by free (to me) public transport.

 

[postman]

When i used to go to Otley and stop off at a cafe,i took my bike inside the disabled toilets,i had a Radar key and a very bad prostate problem,i was once and only once challenged,i shut them both up.With the key and my medical history.

 

[presta]

The cycle racks at Chelmsford station are divided into three groups: there are ones that are open to all comers, then a group which are completely enclosed in a steel cage, and another lot indoors under one of the arches. I don't know what the charges or access arrangements are, or whether the BTP policy would apply to all equally.

Trawling CCTV footage for the thief is something AI would be perfect for. It would take minutes at most.

It's in development, according to Co-pilot.

This is one of the reasons* I don't do any utility cycling.

Same here. Generally the only times I left the bike unattended were for a few minutes whilst I bought groceries when on tour.