Honestly, those guys were thieves, and got busted for it. You can't just walk up to anything not locked down and take it, no matter how tempting.

By that logic I could take someone's car, or even loot their home because the doors were unlocked? Would you guys be OK with that? I hope not.

Our society is a "let's see what we can get away with" society, and that is not just a shame, it's actually bad for our society. Enron did just that, worldcom did just that....screwing people for their own gain. Just like a thief.

Thievery is thievery. If you want the bike, verify if it is actually "junk" (ex: leaning on trashcans on trash day, in or leaning on a dumpster on trash day, etc), or go ask around and see if you an find the owner.

Actually the fact the end result is the same is just like setting speed limits: nobody pays attention to those either, but you speed knowing well that if you get caught, there will be consequences.

I agree that they should have picked a more modest bike, but it did sound like this was a patrol bike they stripped all markings from...so they might have just been playing with what they had. Most workplaces do not allow you to use personal property for business operations, and I don't see the Police Dept being any different in this.

I would not be tempted to steal a bike. Period. My grandmother lived in poverty all of her life in a bad neighborhood. I assure you she would not be tempted to steal a bike either, regardless of where it sat, for how long, or the price, or the lack of lock.

If it were an unlocked car that was stolen. Would this bother you?

Is it only wrong to steal if you are above the poverty line?

Is it only wrong to steal in so called "good" neighborhoods?

Is it only wrong to steal if the true owner of the property doesn't lock up their possessions?

How locked up does something need to be, to be locked up enough to be "allowed" to be stolen?

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.

"Youthful exuberance, your Honor. That Biff is such a prankster."

"Biff, I'm sentencing you to 100 hours of community service. This community will not tolerate this type of behavior."

"Thank you, your Honor, We'll see to it that Biff makes his amends to society. See you on the links, your Honor."

+1

I'm sure your grandma was a saint but let's leave her out of this. I never said that what these guys did wasn't stealing, ok, and I don't think it is alright to take someone's possessions just because their unsecured. The issue is, do we need police organizing a sting on something that is not a widespread problem and probably doesn't happen all that much (I'm assuming people don't just leave their money bikes unlocked and sitting around in the slums here), or working on a widespread problem, like real bike theft rings?

Think of it this way, they could leave a bag of money sitting on the street, bust the first guy who picked it up, and send him to jail for a long time. Or, they could go bust someone who was going to rob a real bank... What do you think is a more worthy activity for their work and our tax dollars? The bank is an actual tangible target for these theives. The bag of money is a manufactured target by the police and in reality no one leaves a bag of money *or a friggin $3900 bike* sitting around waiting for someone to stumble upon it!!

"Good news Sarge, petty thefts of top-dollar bikes left unsecured on the street have dropped 100% since our bust last night"

BULL*****! Go solve a real problem!