Let's talk about a real crime problem-- bike theft-- as opposed to a manufactured crime problem-- leaving a tempting object laying around in a poor neighborhood. In some cities-- New York, for example-- no lock can protect your bike from a bike theft ring, regardless of your neighborhood. These guys are pros, and they have the tools and the know-how to break any lock you care to put on your high-end bike. And these pros know the difference between a high-end bike and an X-Mart special.

If the police wanted to put a dent in bike theft, all they'd have to do is a bit of research into bike theft in their city-- where are the thefts occurring, what types of bikes are being targetted, how was the theft accomplished, who's doing the thieving, and where do the bikes end up after they're stolen. Then they could tailor a sting to go after the pros in their town and take them down, sending the pros to prison on a felony rap.

But no, that would be too much like real police work. So instead, they just left a valuable object-- in this case, a bike-- laying around in a poor neighborhood. They made sure it wasn't locked up, because a lock would mean that only bike thieves would attempt to steal it. Just for kicks, they made sure it met the requirements for a felony rap-- they made sure it was a Mercedes instead of an X-Mart bike, although the two opportunists who got busted couldn't tell you the difference if their lives depended on it. And just to make sure that nobody questioned their "police work," they didn't pull the same stunt on the right side of the tracks, where some "pranksters" from "good homes" would be able to hire a lawyer.

Personally, I have nothing to fear from these opportunists who are going to prison on a felony rap, because I don't leave my bikes laying around unlocked and unattended. On the other hand, I do fear that my bike can be stolen by pro bike thieves, because they can defeat almost any precaution I take. Given my druthers, I druther the police do some real police work on a real crime problem, rather than manufacturing a crime problem to make themselves look like real cops.