London bike theft up by a third in last 5 years... but number of recoveries and arrests is down

City of London police, they're all too happy to to wait around on a road which is designated as a pavement because on some other day there's a market there, and then hand out a fine to me for a honest mistake (there were two ****ing vans parked next to the pavement on this 'pavement'). They don't give a s**t about cyclists. B****y time-wasters.

As I said zanf they want the whole thing sorted quickly. People generally want life to be as simple and as uncomplicated as possible. And if this means having a crime reference only then that's all they ask for. Me personally, it would depend on what bike determined my reporting to the police and also the value of the bike would determine making a claim.

In regards to you other comments on this thread I suggest a wee trip down to your local tesco's for some salt....

Simon McMichael - sorry being tongue in cheek, i appreciate there are numerous ways to report your bike and not all of them involve the Police

Zanff -

I have never read such utter drivel in all my life. Your comments are inflammatory, racist, repulsive and down right rude and its obvious you do not have a clue what your talking about. In my opinion the language you use is not called for on this site and i believe not wanted.

I have served with Northumbria Police for over 25 years and during that time i have been called numerous things but never ever a racist.

Notice its the Met the article is about and not Northumbria so before you go shouting your abusive mouth off i suggest you think about what your going to say.

Yeah Zanf. Your comment was a bit harsh and personally I reckon that your final paragraph in your 10.01 post was bang out of order.

I think many are only interested in the crime number as they want the whole thing sorted quickly and not have to wait on the results of an investigation this is compounded by many divisions not having a specific dept focused solely on bike crime.

I know if my pride and joy was nicked I don't know if I actually would want it back as who knows what condition it would come back in

My advice is much the same as Pragma -
*2 d-locks, both through the frame and a wheel each to something unmoveable
*make the keyhole difficult to access (a pain yes, but you want to be as cussed as possible to prospective thief)
*Take a note of the frame #
*Make an identification mark unique to your bike
*Park in a very public place
*Use your hack for the commute (the only clean part of mine is the drive chain and cables!)
*the posh bike secured to a floor/wall bolt with a heavy duty chain

I've actually had to stop and give folk some advice on securing their bike in the past. Let's not give these wee clypes the opportunity to nick our wheels.

A bit harsh I think zanf; yes there are some Police officers out there who are a disgrace to the uniform (and I can give examples). But the vast majority are doing what can be a s**t job as well as it can be done. Cynicism sets in after a few years in the job; as we say, they (the Police) cover my arse and I cover theirs! But remember these bikes get stolen because there is a ready market for them; if you saw a really nice bike at a really nice price, the seller wants cash and to meet you in a layby....would you ask questions?

More people are cycling in London. This means that not only is the demand for bikes rising but the opportunities for thieves to both steal and get a decent return are increasing.

Unfortunately the Met Police Cycle Task Force, formed in 2010 is woefully under resourced. Add to this the problem that the local police haven't got a scooby on how to deal with bicycle theft or recovery. I know this from experience.

Having had a bike stolen and reported it to local police, I then saw my bike on eBay. The local police took days to respond by which time the bike had been sold and gone. They were also hampered by eBay's crime department - evidently one person for the entire European continent, which have a 40 day request response.

I contacted the cycle task force myself and
as it turned out, they were already investigating the seller for similar crimes.

My bike has still disappeared, but at least one more charge is getting brought against the seller and there is a chance I may receive some form of compensation.

I'm Steve at Pragmasis. We manufacture security products for bikes and would always encourage people to avoid relying on a cable lock for anything valuable, as they are so easy to cut. Even the armoured ones, in our experience, are nothing like as good as a decent chain and often heavier.

Datatag and other tags are useful but a lot of police stations don't even have H&S-approved ultraviolet lights, let alone the special Datatag etc scanners to retrieve an id from these things. Tracking products can also be a deterrent, but none of those things are reliable at preventing the theft. They are useful as extra deterrents, but it's much better, in our opinion, to put more reliance on a good chain & lock _and_ a good D-lock, with _both_ of them going through the frame _and_ a wheel _and_ something solid, so the thief has to defeat multiple things of different types to steal your bike.

If you've got a valuable bike, be wary of thieves cutting the frame to release a chain/D-lock, as that can be an easy way for them to steal a lot of expensive components. Putting a chain or D-lock through the main triangle of the frame _and_ through the rear wheel means they will have to make several cuts and potentially through the wheel and the tyre to get the bike even with a trashed frame. Tyres with beads are difficult to cut, so this makes it all very unappealing to the thief, and if you also have an independent lock on the front wheel that is also through the frame and around something solid, the thief is looking at a lot of work to get virtually nothing.

Following the LCC tips above as well and having a well thought out security strategy is much more likely to help you keep your bike and also to reduce the chance of a thief attempting a theft, so you are also less likely to come back to a damaged bike.

I hope that helps.

"Do make sure the frame and both wheels are inside your lock, or use two locks, or locking wheel skewers on the front wheel"

It is *essential* to always use two locks in London. Often this will mean the difference between the bike thief going for an easier bike to steal rather than your one. One lock can easily be smashed off or levered. Two is more problematic.

I use two good quality D locks to lock my bike up when I leave it for more than 2 hours outside my gym. So far, I have not had any problems and that area (Islington) is a known problem area for bike thieves.

Some people recommend using two different types of locks ie a d lock and a cable lock, so that the thief may need different tools to cut through each lock. Personally, I like strong D locks though and so far, everything OK.

Get a Datatag as suggested by mickdan or a Bike Shepherd tag what I have which sounds fairly similar

http://road.cc/content/forum/59391-help-get-your-bikes-back-after-being-...

London Cycling Campaign’s Mike Cavenett said that more needed to be done to combat bike theft. "Only about one in four bikes in London is reported stolen,” he explained. “That means there could be around 100,000 bikes stolen every year, which is clearly a huge problem.

Does he have a crystal ball cos i would love to know how he works out only 1 in 4 are reported stolen, does everyone who loses their bike report it to him and not the Police ?????

Also as a serving cop we know that a lot of people report their bike "stolen" and are only interested in a crime number for insurance purposes. Has the bike actually been stolen - only the person reporting will know. Rightly or wrongly thats society at the mo

Well the police certainly didn't seem to give a toss when I last had a bicycle stolen, so no change there then. What the story doesn't point out is that if you have a rusty old clunker, it is far less likely to be nicked by an opportunist thief. I keep my good bikes with me. The older ones can be left here and there in town.

More bikes, more theft, police not interested. Sounds pretty normal to me.

Do buy a Brompton so you can take it with you wherever you go. : )

Bizarrely I got a phone call at the exact time that this article was published from the police to say they have retrieved my bike that was stolen two years ago!

My tips: educate yourself on how to PROPERLY lock your bike, it's not as straight forward as most people think. Learn from my mistake.

Secondly, make sure you check your bike serial number (it's on the frame underneath between the pedals usually. Keep it safe so you can tell the police what your serial number is if your bike gets knicked. If I didn't do that I wouldn't have this wonderful news today!

Big up the Met!

As for bike security tips, in addition to decent locks/chains/d-rings also get a Datatag.
The big green sticker is likely to deter thieves and if it does get stolen there's more chance of you getting it back and the thieves getting caught.