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Notts Police fill cities with 'Capture Bicyles' warning thieves that they could end up with more than they bargained forCapture Bicycle Nottinghamshire Police

Notts Police fill cities with 'Capture Bicyles' warning thieves that they could end up with more than they bargained for

'Capture Bicycles' contain mysterious technology to catch crooks in the act - and there's no excuse for not knowing about it...
by Sarah Barth
Sun, Oct 06, 2013 18:07
9

Police in Nottingham are using specially marked bikes to warn would-be criminals that they could be preparing to steal more than they bargained for.

14 bikes have been made into mobile warning signs, and positioned in key areas of Newark, Worksop and Nottingham. In Nottingham city centre alone, 133 bikes were stolen between April and August alone.

Police claim the real trap bikes will contain 'state of the art technology' that will catch thieves in the act.

Sergeant Simon Allen, from the Nottingham city centre team, said: “The concept of Capture Bikes has been around for a while. We got the idea for the brightly painted bikes from Liverpool, who’ve seen a reduction of 40% since using them.

“We’ve used 15 unclaimed bikes from lost property to signal the initiative. They are either bright yellow or marked up with our logo and the words ‘Capture Bikes In Operation’. You can’t miss them.”

Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood Chief Inspector Paul Murphy said: “If you see one of the bikes in your local area, be aware that it may be a hotspot.

“This scheme is not just about catching thieves in the act, but also establishing where stolen bikes are being taken to be sold on.

“Another important aim is to deter criminals in the first place, sending the message out there that the best way to avoid being caught is to stop offending.”

Nottinghamshire
Nottingham
Stolen bike
bike thefts
Crime

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9 comments

Avatar
Carl | 11 years ago
0 likes

Nice initiative but it'd be more fun if you could fit some kind of rocket-powered spike inside the seatpost and activate it after the bike had been nicked. Hanging's too good for them, etc.... 21

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badkneestom | 11 years ago
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It's been proven that blue lighting can reduce crime. Worth a try

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kiwiglider | 11 years ago
0 likes

Good they are taking action. What is West Yorkshire Police doing about it?

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Yorkshie Whippet replied to kiwiglider | 11 years ago
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kiwiglider wrote:

Good they are taking action. What is West Yorkshire Police doing about it?

Dunno about about West Yorkshire Police doing anything other than annoying law abiding citizens. I note from the news today South Yorkshire Police are checking for unlocked doors and walking in. So much for catching criminals, and living in a free world these days.

Just out of curiousity, can you be arrested if you wack a PC who has entered your home without knocking etc?

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Magic | 11 years ago
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Just go to Briggs scrap metal. or the auction at the end of Tolney lane on a Wednesday morning if you want to find the stolen bikes in Newark.
As for Police action, my wifes colleague had her bike stolen on Friday night and saw the youth who nicked it riding it on Saturday morning in Town. When she stopped him and challenged him and called the Police, he wouldn't give her it back until she'd paid him £15 (what he claimed he'd bought it for) and the Police were not interested in the least, even though she could identify him.

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jova54 | 11 years ago
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Here's a novel idea. Why not just put the capture bikes out and don't tell the scumbags, or have we descended to the point where we have less rights than the thieves?

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MxQueen replied to jova54 | 11 years ago
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I suspect the point is people are less likely to engage in opportunistic crime where they know there's every chance the opportunity isn't just easy money, but instead is bait. Stealing bikes for professional bike thieves is easy and it's rare for anyone to question thieves in the act (who are in any case going to be long gone quite fast if well prepared). Shielding from cameras in the area is easy too for cautious thieves. Introducing a level of unknownrisk in a crime that is otherwise very easy to get away with seems likely to make a substantial difference to willingness to carry out thefts in the first place, particularly with the visual reminder that capture methods are in action (rather than leaving ppl to steal bikes potentially damaging them in the process).

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KirinChris replied to jova54 | 11 years ago
0 likes
jova54 wrote:

Here's a novel idea. Why not just put the capture bikes out and don't tell the scumbags, or have we descended to the point where we have less rights than the thieves?

It is fairly well-established that a major deterrent is not the actual punishment but the chances of being caught. So creating visible reminders of that risk is more likely to stop the crime in the first place.

And sorry, but I would grind my teeth to a paste if I didn't mention that it's 'fewer' rights, BTW... 26

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jova54 replied to KirinChris | 11 years ago
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abudhabiChris wrote:
jova54 wrote:

Here's a novel idea. Why not just put the capture bikes out and don't tell the scumbags, or have we descended to the point where we have less rights than the thieves?

It is fairly well-established that a major deterrent is not the actual punishment but the chances of being caught. So creating visible reminders of that risk is more likely to stop the crime in the first place.

That only displaces the crime into another area, there is no proof that it reduce crime overall. The intention should be to identify and punish the criminals not warn them off somewhere else.

Quote:

And sorry, but I would grind my teeth to a paste if I didn't mention that it's 'fewer' rights, BTW... 26

I love the sound of grinding teeth 4

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