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Who is stealing our bikes?

What little research has been conducted indicates that the majority of thefts are committed by males under the age of 20.  I don’t think this is particularly surprising and certainly reflects the ages of the young people I arrested during my time on the beat. 

It is of interest to note that bikes are stolen for a variety of reasons.  Joy riding seems to predominate in some areas, where the bike is taken for transport or fun and then simply dumped (and probably taken again by some other person). They can be stolen by the acquisitive thief (often a drug user), which is the type of thief that will steal anything if it’s not screwed down and then sell it on for some cash or drugs.  Then you have ‘Bike Freaks’ or ‘bicycle focussed offenders’ who steal specific types of bikes, often in large numbers and to order.  These people are or are associated with fences who will have ready markets to sell the bikes on, which is why you should always check out the details of any second hand bike you might want to buy.   If the seller seems reluctant to give you or let you see the frame number, or it’s been filed off then I suggest you don’t buy it.  

After the theft it is not uncommon for the bike to be completely taken apart, resprayed, re-stickered and re-punched with a new fictitious frame number.

Common methods used to steal bikes

Simply taking

The most common method of taking a bike is simply getting on it and riding it away!  This happens when people leave their bike outside the corner shop to get a little shopping in the mistaken belief that as they’ll only be gone for a couple of minutes the bike will be safe.  Bikes taken from around the home tend to be in insecure outbuildings or simply left out in the back garden or lying down outside the front door.  The majority of these are poorly secured or not secured at all at the time of the theft. 

Lifting

One mistake that’s often made by cyclists when they are securing the bike in the public street is to lean the bike against a single pole (the sort that might carry a very small parking information sign at the top).  The cyclist then secures the bike with a cable or chain lock looped around the crossbar and pole.  The thief comes along and simply lifts the bike up over the top of the pole and rides off on the bike with the lock still attached.

Levering

This is when a D lock has been secured around the bike and fixed point in such a way that the thief is able to apply leverage on the bike frame or the fixed point against the lock to force it open.  In some instances the thief is able to use the bike itself as a lever by rotating it against the fixed point. (This is why you need to use two locks)

Cutting

Although cordless disc cutters are used occasionally, most cutting is carried out using bolt croppers, tin snips and hacksaws, which make easy work of the cheaper cable and chain locks (and some of the D locks too).

Striking

Mainly used on chain locks that have been attached around the wheels, so they rest on the roadway or footway, the thief repeatedly hits the chain link with a wide chisel and lump hammer.   If the chain is fitted in a higher position on the bike then this method is rarely used.   Occasionally, ‘plumber’s freeze’ is sprayed onto a chain or padlock, which makes the metal more brittle and more susceptible to breaking under stress.

Unbolting

Used on bikes which have been secured around the front wheel only.  The cheaper front wheel is simply unbolted and the rest of the bike is stolen.  This method of theft often includes the use of a vehicle as you cannot ride the bike away.  A new front wheel (from another nicked bike) is then put back on ready for sale.

Cylinder attack

Some of the ‘cheap and nasty’ D locks have rather weak cylinders, which can be forced to turn using a screwdriver.  Always select a product that has undergone independent third party testing by an organisation such as Sold Secure, a test house owned and operated by the Master Locksmiths Association.

To watch and listen to a bike thief talking about the above methods, take a look at the following film produced by Bikeoff.  Unfortunately the words are mostly illegible, but that doesn’t ruin what is otherwise a most interesting short film.    

True story

It was a summery Sunday and I was 14 years old.  I was late back for lunch and so left my fairly new bike leaning against the hedge at the front of our house.  It was a private road, with no major through traffic and non residents were hardly ever seen coming along the road.  After lunch I discovered that the bike had gone and that was that.  We didn’t report the matter to the police, because I regarded it as my fault for not bringing the bike in (at least that’s what my parents told me!) and I suppose I was a bit embarrassed about it.

The next day I was sitting on the upper deck of the school bus when I spied my bike being ridden along behind us in heavy traffic.  As we stopped at some lights I ran downstairs and stood on the platform.  I spoke to the kid who was riding it pretending to know him.  Like the gormless idiot he clearly was he told me his name.  I got to school and then phoned my dad who was working at home.  He picked me up and we met the police at this lad’s school (I’d recognised the uniform).  We quickly found the bike and the police put it and the thief into the van.  I gave a statement at the police station and then waited and waited and waited!  The 16 year old thief was cautioned and only after that process had taken place, lasting some two months, did I get my bike back. One slow puncture, a broken brake cable, a buckled rear wheel and no bloody compensation!

But thumbs up for school uniform! 

Bikeoff’s study of bicycle locking practices

Bikeoff researchers conducted an applaudable study of 8,500 cyclist’s locking practices at a bike theft hot spot in Camden (North central London).  The bikes were being locked onto a standard Sheffield or ‘∩’ shaped bicycle stand.  They identified a massive 180 possible locking configurations to secure a traditional two-wheeled bicycle to these stands.  Having identified ‘secure locking’ as  ‘the application of an appropriate lock(s) so that both wheels and the frame of the bicycle are secured to the stand’  they found that 109 of these locking combinations were  ‘bad’ or ‘insecure’  ; 48 were  ‘OK’ or ‘semi-secure’    and only 23 could be described as  ‘good’ or ‘secure’.

Their study found that a massive 87% of the 8,500 cyclists used only one lock, only 19% locked their frame to the stand and just 20%  locked their bike in a way that was considered secure.

The researchers make a revealing point about bikes locks.   Such findings indicate that the use of adequate locks alone may not be sufficient to prevent bicycle theft – it's not just the lock but how you use it that is important. (Which is what we can say about a lot of things we do in life!) I would also add the observation ‘to what you lock it to is also important’ (which Bikeoff do as well).

Where is bike theft most prevalent?

Bike theft is similar to most other crime in that it is not randomly located.  It is an unsurprising fact that a common location for bike theft is around the home; possibly because we let our guard down, but partly because that’s where all the bikes are at some point of the day or night!  Railway stations, university campuses, schools and colleges appear in the common location list along with on-street parking locations; all places really with large concentrations of badly secured bikes.  The British Crime Survey of 2004/05 found that 18% of bike thefts in England and Wales occurred from on-street locations.

The risk factor table

The table below considers a variety of factors that increase or decrease the risk of having your bike nicked; and there are lots of them.  I could have added the weather as well, because we know that torrential rain and generally really bad weather has historically always been the policeman’s friend (except for the attendant increase in road accidents of course).

Next to each risk factor I’ve described some levels of that risk in worsening order.  For example, we know that the longer a bike is left in one place (especially on street) the greater the chance that a thief will see it and make arrangements to steal it.  We also know that if there is a high prevalence of street crime in an area, such as a neighbourhood infested by drug users and dealers (See  Library   Crime Opportunity Profiling of Streets (COPS) ) there will be more interest in stealing your bike to make some quick cash.  I’ve weighted each level from 0 to 4 to give you a rough measure of the risk and then provided two examples of bike owners who use their bikes in quite different ways.  I could have added other risk factors and additional levels of risks for each, but I felt it would get too complicated for what is meant to be a simple demonstration of risk assessment.  For a bit of fun you could work your way through the risk factors to see how you might score.

I would suggest that you try to aim for a score of no greater than 12, which may mean changing some of the things that you currently do, like buying some better locks, locking both wheels and the frame to a proper bike stand and parking in a safer place (if you can!). 

Factors that increase or decrease risks of bike theft

Risk Factors

Level of risk

 Score

Example 1

 

Example 2

 

Time left parked   

    

Up to 2 mins

Up to 2 hours

Up to 4 hours

Up to 9 hours

More than 9 hours

0

0

2

3

4

Rider works full time in office

3

Rider visits local shops each day

0

Parking location   

 

Secured bike storeroom

Well overlooked works’ car park

Poorly overlooked works’ car park

In street with lots of activity

In street with low activity

 

1

 

2

 

3

Rider parks bike right outside entrance to workplace which is well overlooked

1

Rider parks in street with lots of activity

2

Type of immovable object the bike is locked to   

Cycle parking stand allowing the use of two locks

Cycle parking stand allowing the use of one lock

Railing

Singe pole

0

 

 

1

 

 

1

2

Bike left on cycle stand allowing use of two locks

0

Bike left leaning on single pole

2

Security level of the lock(s) used   

Gold

Silver

Bronze

No standard

0

1

2

3

Bike locked with Silver rated locks

1

Bike locked with Bronze rated lock

2

Number of locks used   

Two locks

One lock

1

2

Two locks

1

One lock

2

How are locks used   

Both wheels and frame locked to stand using two locks

Other locking arrangement using two locks

Frame locked to stand

Wheel locked to stand

0

 

 

1

 

 

2

3

Rider locks both wheels and frame to stand

0

Rider locks frame onto pole only

2

Resale value of the bike   

Low resale value

Medium resale value

High resale value

1

2

 

3

Medium priced bike in good condition

2

Low priced bike in fair condition

1

Identifying characteristics of the bike   

Marked/tagged & registered

Post-coded only

 

Unmarked

0

 

1

 

2

 

Marked, tagged and registered

0

Post-coded only

1

The general level of street crime in the area   

Low

Medium

High

1

2

3

Medium

2

Medium

2

Where kept overnight at home   

Inside the house/flat

Locked to ground anchor in secured outbuilding

Left unlocked in a secured outbuilding

Left unlocked in a insecure outbuilding

Left unlocked in back garden

0

 

 

 

1

 

2

 

 

3

Locked to ground anchor in secured outbuilding

0

Left unlocked in back garden

3

SCORES   

 

 

 

 

10/28

 

17/28