General Cycling Discussion - Bike Theft at Work.

I feel totally lousy. Yesterday I was walking past through the atrium at work and noticed a young man smoking cigs and talking into a cell phone at the bike rack. He just looked cocky but out of place. I definitely thought bike thief. Slowed down, gave him a real hard look, checking for tools etc.

Then I stopped myself with pangs of guilt, thinking stupid Idaho hick. Yeah, he's a young black guy hanging out at the bike rack, grow up. I went upstairs without calling security or stepping outside to chat and give the guy a little pressure.

Sure enough, one of my coworkers lost a bike. Another person saw the same guy riding off after walking up to the bike rack. He cut a cable lock, but didn't have a pack so he must have had some cutters in his baggy pants and long shirt. He just looked so wrong, talking on the cell phone like he was taking his order from the rack. Damn!
:irritated

That is bad.

Maybe the thief had found out, as I just learned this week, that Boise is one of the bicycle-friendliest cities in the nation. He could have figured pickings would be ripe there....

Originally posted by dirtsqueezer
He just looked so wrong, talking on the cell phone like he was taking his order from the rack. Damn!
:irritated

One of the bike magazines did a piece on bike thieves and the effectiveness of various locks. One of the bike thieves interviewed actually said he took orders for specific parts AND gave customers refunds on broken parts w/i a certain time period. Too bad he doesn't use his entrepreneurial skills for something legit.

All bike thieves are scum.

Chris

He'll be back. Mark my word.

Set him up.

Remember that you won't be able to predict exactly when he will be back, so be patient.

Originally posted by mike
He'll be back. Mark my word.

Yep, we lost another one from the same rack the next day. Cutting cable locks. Been at this office for 4 years without problems until last week.


http://www.northpoledesign.com/ski_gear/Images/toetagbike.jpg

Graphics from www.northpoledesign.com good stuff!

This is a hassle, but is probably effective. I have heard of people using two types of locks, say a U-lock and a cable lock. Helps for 2 reasons: a) It's twice the protection and twice as much for the thief to deal with b) most bike thieves usually only have tools for one type of lock on them at any given time

Is there any possibility of training a video camera on that area, one that records all the time like in some stores and in banks?

Originally posted by JonR
Is there any possibility of training a video camera on that area, one that records all the time like in some stores and in banks?

That would be too easy. Moving the camera 30 degrees would cover the bike rack, but take it away from the side door. They only move it during christmas to make sure the employees don't steal the stuffed bears from under the tree (no joke).

Actually the security folks are good people. I like Riderx's idea of two locks.

Crow is a dish best eaten warm.:blush: I strolled downstairs and they have the security camera trained on the bike rack.

A live electrical wire connected to the bike frame would result in a film you could probably sell to recoup the money lost from the stolen bikes.

"Smoken Bike Thief" you could call it. Anybody who ever had a bike stolen would want to see it.

Just out of curiosity, did your company reimburse the employees who's bikes were stolen or were they left on their own?

Originally posted by mike
Just out of curiosity, did your company reimburse the employees who's bikes were stolen or were they left on their own?

Bikes are same as any private property at the office, you are on your own. I've no problem with that. They do a pretty good job with security.

Originally posted by dirtsqueezer
Moving the camera 30 degrees would cover the bike rack, but take it away from the side door.

Could the bike rack be moved closer to the door, within camera range? Heck, even a fake-but-visible camera would probably be a decent deterent.

Or.... you could even order an x10 wireless camera from one of those @#!*& pop-up ads. ;)

I've started snapping a small, heavy duty padlock on the chain ring along with my "U" type lock. It's easy to carry and quick to snap on. Anything that slows the bastards down has to help.

Did the thefts happen on the same days at approximately the same time?

If yes, then you could wait for him with a really good camera.

I am sorry to say that you may be disappointed with the results of catching him on film. The police may not give high priority to a grainy image of some guy stealing bikes. They have a lot worse criminals to try to find - unless they recognize him right away.

When/if they do catch actually catch the thief, the punishment may be surprisingly less than you expect. You won't be able to sue him for the other bikes because you won't be able to prove that he was the thief.

Be prepared for that reality.

Lojack for bikes.

Get your friends together for a search and destroy mission.......

In the UK, cops are assessed on their arrest and conviction rate.
Bike theives are a sure thing, they are so predictable. Put a bike out and they will try to steal it.

In one town the cops used the bike-stealing habits of theives as their point of entry . They fit a bike with a radio beackon, tether it with a weak lock to be stolen, and track it to the lock-up storage garage. When they raid the garage, they collect a whole lot of booty, most of it from house burglaries.

A simple case of bike theft now becomes a whole lot of outstanding cases solved, and a big gold star on their annual report.

Originally posted by MichaelW
They fit a bike with a radio beackon, tether it with a weak lock to be stolen, and track it to the lock-up storage garage. When they raid the garage, they collect a whole lot of booty, most of it from house burglaries.


The radio transmitter makes a lot of sense with today's technology. With a small transmitter, it is possible to pinpoint the exact location of the transmitter with addresses and the works.

Several trucking companies here in the USA have transmitters in each of their trucks so they can pinpoint the locations at any given time. My friend in the industry said that it radically cut down on loss due to theft because trucks could not be secretly diverted by unscrupulous drivers.

How about talking with your local police and offering your bike as a transmitter host. The risk is that you would have to offer up a good bike for bait.

Originally posted by Chris L
All bike thieves are scum.

Chris

and they have good warranties.

Jonathan

Originally posted by roadbuzz


Could the bike rack be moved closer to the door, within camera range? Heck, even a fake-but-visible camera would probably be a decent deterent.

Or.... you could even order an x10 wireless camera from one of those @#!*& pop-up ads. ;)

We were just talking about those ads at luncheon today. That might not be a bad idea if you find a good place to put it.

Jonathan

Originally posted by MichaelW
In the UK, cops are assessed on their arrest and conviction rate.
Bike theives are a sure thing, they are so predictable. Put a bike out and they will try to steal it.


That's about the best idea I've heard yet.

Chris