Bike Theft Decriminalised

[classic33]

Ah no worries

To be fair I quite like the station staff at Leeds, they've probably read the same news we have about dodgy eBikes and taken a decision.

The e-mails are from Network Rail though.

 

[roley poley]

E-mail answer on the subject
Response By E-mail (27/03/2025 02.38 PM)
Ebikes banned from Network Rail property query - Leeds City Station

Dear

I have now received a response from our team at the station.
Unfortunately we do not allow storage of any form of Ebikes on the station, They can be stored on the rack, outside Princes Street.

I do hope this information is useful.

Kind regards


Ebikes banned from Network Rail property query - Leeds City Station

Response By E-mail (27/03/2025 02.50 PM)
This refers to all Network Rail Managed Stations.

Kind regards

I so miss the bike park at Leeds railway station run by Evans..it was built just for this sort of problem ....manned by the staff which ran their bike shop in the same building and able to monitor all entrants as they put a label on the frame before you went to chain it up...on your return you waved at the staff... unlocked ,brought it down ,showed them the stub of the ticket which matched the one on your bike and had a nice chat if you so chose and gave them £1.50...it was called "cyclepoint"...Enter "cyclepoint leeds" on you tube and see what we all need

 

[blackrat]

Is this restriction just for ebikes, the rest of us on proper bikes, no issues?

 

[Alex321]

Until cycle theft is taken seriously it will continue..................the "Ah well it's only a bike" attitude should be forgotten about and thieves appropriately punished. (and those who buy stolen bikes)

Their "attitude" is exactly the same for cars. They won't investigate a car theft if it as left at the station for more than 2 hours either.

It isn't "It's only a bike", it is "We don't have the resources to go through several hours of CCTV (for any theft) - which more often than not will not result in a positive ID anyhow".

 

[Alex321]

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?

I think it is about the volume of CCTV they will have to look through.

 

[Alex321]

Sadly, the public by large is not really bothered, not many own or ride bikes, compared to motorists.
Now, imagine if cars got stolen with impunity, there would be an outcry!

Their policy is exactly the same for cars as it is for bikes.

 

[Alex321]

Decriminalizing bike theft is stupid, with the cost of some bikes these days, it is GRAND theft.

And there is no decriminalising of it. People are saying that is what the effect of this policy is, but it is not actually decriminalising anything.

 

[Alex321]

It's smoke and mirrors by the Police (again). No way would they need to watch eg 12 hrs CCTV

eg somebody leaves their bike at 07:00 and returning 19:00 it's been stolen. Police don't start watching from 07:00 and finish at 16:30 when it was stolen to see the theft. They look at a frame at 13:00 and it's still there. Look at another frame at 16:00 and still there. So frame at 17:30 it's gone so back to frame at 16:45 it's gone so maybe watch frrom 16:00 so only a 45 min window,Could even do more single frame points to further reduce the 45 min window but my boring explanation goes on too long and tl;dr.

CCTV is recorded to hard disk drive these days so takes just seconds to look at each of the times to reduce the "theft window".

So this studying hours of video is complete twaddle. We finished with VHS tape with slow fast forward years ago, it's instanteaneous jumps to time points.. There is something else going on.

That only works if the whole of the bike parking area is covered. If it just covers the way in and out, or the bikes are parked closely enough together to not easily be able to see which ones are present, than that doesn't work.

 

[brommieinkorea]

Get rid of the CCTV. Post a police officer in the bike parking, one who's nearing retirement and resembles Drago. Anytime a bike is stolen from the bike park, the cop gets his pay docked £20. The policeman has a Taser and night stick, no handcuffs it'd work it's way out beautifully.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Good news! British Transport Police reverse controversial bike theft policy

British Transport Police has reversed its policy to no longer investigate bike thefts if the cycle has been left for more than two hours or if it is valued at less than £200, following engagement with Cycling UK

British Transport Police (BTP) has updated the cycle theft section of its Crime Screening Policy on 5 January 2026 to clearly state its commitment to investigating bike theft.
This update reverses the BTP’s previous announcement in October 2025 that it would no longer investigate bike thefts outside stations where the bicycle had been left for more than two hours or was worth less than £200.

Happened a couple weeks ago but I didn't see it reported anywhere, this is my latest cycling UK email newsletter.

 

[Drago]

So which of their 2 officers will be dealing with that?

 

[raleighnut]

So which of their 2 officers will be dealing with that?

I've met a couple of Transport Policemen................try to keep this short.

I used to go to gigs at the Flowerpot in Derby and at the time the 'Midland Mainline' express was parked there overnight for cleaning and re-fuelling so when the gig had finished I'd go for a curry then off to the train station to wait for the 4.45 AM departure of the train as it was off to St Pancras to be the first express out of London to Sheffield. Anyhoo having done this successfully next time I went I took my camping stove and kettle, jar of coffee and a mug plus a bottle of single Malt Whisky and a glass. About the 4th time I did this I also took my camping seat (just an insulated bottom and backrest joined by a strap arrangement) cos it was December and they are metal benches so I got there at about 2.30 AM and brewed up, poured a drinky out and settled down. I'd been there about twenty minutes when 2 BTP officers walked up and asked me what I was doing so I told them "Waiting for the train" they asked me "Have you got a ticket" so I replied "Yep" reaching into my top pocket for the return portion of it. Whilst one of them was looking at the ticket I got nattering to the other and told him I'd done this a few times. "You're well set up" he said so I told him "yeah, I've got to wait a couple of hours but better here than on a bench in town" and they walked off.
I think they must have thought I was some sort of Tramp but seeing me with a stove, kettle, cup of coffee and a glass of amber goodness probably threw em a curveball.

 

[katiewlx]

Good news! British Transport Police reverse controversial bike theft policy



Happened a couple weeks ago but I didn't see it reported anywhere, this is my latest cycling UK email newsletter.

the issue is its just the policy thats changed, which is a nice way of being able to show to people complaining, as I think Cycling UK were trying to raise funds for a legal challenge to it, that hey weve got a policy document that says we should do something about it, and hence why they were claiming this was a success.

but its not an actual commitment to really do anything about it, BTP have still got 8.5million pounds funding shortfall for this FY, still losing about 500 posts, 11 police stations, to save money, the rail unions claim actually they need to recruit 1000 more officers to get back to historic levels of about 15 years ago or so.

and theyll always cite operational commitments and resourcing as to how they prioritise which crimes to tackle on the railways,which is literally what this was all about in the first place, it simply documented the quiet part out loud ie bike theft at railway stations is pretty much endemic and theres little you can gleam or chances of successfully solving it as a crime if its been left for 2hrs or more, or is a low value bike and so was considered a low priority to deal with..

so theyll carry on doing what they were doing, ie ignoring the problem and just issuing you with a crime number for the insurance, its just not written down as such so blatantly anymore, or am I just being cynical ?

 

[wiggydiggy]

the issue is its just the policy thats changed, which is a nice way of being able to show to people complaining, as I think Cycling UK were trying to raise funds for a legal challenge to it, that hey weve got a policy document that says we should do something about it, and hence why they were claiming this was a success.

but its not an actual commitment to really do anything about it, BTP have still got 8.5million pounds funding shortfall for this FY, still losing about 500 posts, 11 police stations, to save money, the rail unions claim actually they need to recruit 1000 more officers to get back to historic levels of about 15 years ago or so.

and theyll always cite operational commitments and resourcing as to how they prioritise which crimes to tackle on the railways,which is literally what this was all about in the first place, it simply documented the quiet part out loud ie bike theft at railway stations is pretty much endemic and theres little you can gleam or chances of successfully solving it as a crime if its been left for 2hrs or more, or is a low value bike and so was considered a low priority to deal with..

so theyll carry on doing what they were doing, ie ignoring the problem and just issuing you with a crime number for the insurance, its just not written down as such so blatantly anymore, or am I just being cynical ?

No you're not being cynical, funding is stretched but I do disagree that there is little you can gleam - most stations have an abundment of CCTV cameras and the footage could be checked (using AI if needed) for the time that the bike was there. You could take it it further and start adding things like analysing the footage to see if the theif is someone that has been there before, and adding in using exterior CCTV to see where the bike and the thief goes later.

But that comes back around to the funding like you say, even using tools like AI costs and they will prioritise the more serious crime first.

This decision was idiotic and I'm glad it had been reversed.

 

[Katana]

I've done my fair share of CCTV trawling, including several weeks worth for a murder investigation and its incredibly labour intensive. Someone else would soon moan it their bobbies were spending their days sat in front of screens instead of patrolling.

Its a question of resources, and they simply don't have them. They need enough lolly to do all the tasks they are called upon for, but they simply don't have it. The fault lies with the government.

As an aside, the public expectation of cctv footage is unrealistic. Its a very poor detection tool.

Couldn’t agree more with you on this…they simply don’t have the resources due to ruthless cost cutting measures and as a consequence people are left to fend for themselves…on a side note a little doze of boobies doesn’t do any harm to us😜😂