this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2024
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Yes! Two days ago, someone stole my bike. That is, I had parked it (and locked it) in a bike garage monitored by CCTV at the train station where I commute and when I came back from work my bike was gone and only my broken lock was left. However, as I looked around a little the thieves had not moved it far, only down a floor into the premium "bike hotel" area that is an actual locked in area as well. So I just called the company, and they let me in and gave me my bike back.
Afterwards, I called the police to let them know someone stole my bike and that the whole ordeal was caught on cameras (they have to open an official investigation before the footage can be used due to surveillance laws). As I tried to report the theft (or attempt thereof), I had the following fun conversation with a policeman:
I get that they do not really care about bike theft as they account for 30% of reported thefts, but I mean come on. They obviously moved my bike (along with others, I assume) to a nearby area so they could collect them all in a van later that night and drive off unnoticed. The police could have sent one patrol there at the right time and have them caught red-handed with video footage of the entire ordeal. Incompetence and unwillingness to actually do their work is precisely why there are so many thefts to begin with. Had I said I was a shop owner and had a bike stolen, I am certain they would show up in no time.
TL;DR: Bike got stolen and the police sucks. Thankfully, the thieves sucked marginally less, so I got my bike back.
a) Glad you got your bike back.
b) I know for a while they sold a thing for bikes to identify them and get stolen bikes back. But I am not sure the system really works and I think it's on a sticker. And can't you just peel off any sticker @_@!
c) Cops suck hard at things they find inconvenient to them. I didn't know the reports were that high. I think it's because you're actively messing with a person's means of transportation, that they get reported so much. But nowadays cops don't show up for car accidents. So it's really hit or miss in general.
d) I loved imagining this inconspicuous scrapper-esq van that whisks away all the stolen bikes with the little punk ass thieves thinking they got you so they moved on to the next one. Maybe in you figuring out their bs they might move their bike-hotel to another space.
In the UK I think there's a scheme where you register your bike and engrave a serial number on the frame somewhere, so if it turns up stolen it's easier to prove/legitimate sellers won't buy it off thieves. Don't know how well it works personally.
I was wondering if it was kinda like bullets (don't bullets have serial numbers engraved on them? I suppose they do, but I am not sure if it really matters?) or like car parts. But I will say that for a lot of stolen electronics I've seen and heard about - individual indentifiers didn't ever seem to mean much ultimately.
As far as I know all bikes have these. The number is definite proof of ownership, but can of course just be removed by the perpetrator (if they bother).