Bike thefts slashed and thief jailed in Southport police clampdown

its really simple

never risk leaving any bike you care about keeping, locked on the street

seen too many thefts in London, even with the "highest rated and approved" bike locks which means bugger all to a thief with a battery powered angle grinder or large bolt croppers

Irwin Record 42" bolt croppers about £200, plus a van, clipboard, hi-vis vests, fake i.d. and a good bullshit line about the council needing to relocate the bikes because of something going on later. Total outlay (excluding van) £250.

If questioned by a bike owner turning up "Signs must have been taken down by vandals, Guv! Here's a form detailing how you can get compensation for your lock."

How many thousand pounds worth of bikes do you think they would get away with? People are naturally shy of approaching people with confidence and a clipboard.

If you don't think this is credible ask the council who lost 200yrds of York stone paving over a weekend. No-one questioned the theives taking it because they thought it was the council. No-one from the council who drove or walked past the scene over the next two weeks questioned it because it must have been sanctioned by another department. It was only when people started asking when the works were going to be finished and couldn't the council tidy it up a bit that the penny started to drop.

It's all about front!

A Crime Prevention Officer once told me that crime prevention was all about smoke and mirrors.

If a skilled, intelligent and determined thief wants something - he will take it: If a skilled, intelligent and determined thief wants to be in somewhere - he will be in there. You will NEVER deter the skilled, intelligent and determined thief. That's the bad news; the good news is that they are very few and far between.

At the other end of the scale is the opportunistic idiot. He is will take what he can grab. He is not very bright and tends to get caught a lot and usually quite easily. He is a nuisance who causes more loss through damage than loss through theft. That's the good news; the bad news is that there are a lot of them and collectively they cause a lot of trouble.

This will leave about 15 - 20% who are the real problem. Some are skilled, some are intelligent, some are determined but they are never all three. Here is where the smoke and mirrors comes in. Make it look not worth their while, make them have to be out in the open, make it look like it will take them too long, make it look like they will make too much noise and attract attention. Make them go away and look elsewhere.

You might have a lock that you could open with a lolly stick, but if it looks like he is going to spend twenty noisy minutes out in the open he's going to go elsewhere.

Hey Presto! Ala Kazam!

More importantly how can some one working at Poundland afford a £700 MTB?

Great news, the focus on this, but they really mangle stats with that "up to 80%" line.

You'll like the ending to this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc980QOS-ao

I've had a few experiences with bike thieves over the years, and would offer these observations.

Bike thieves love cable locks.

The public and likely your neighbours are astonishingly good at ignoring suspicious behaviour up to and including loud hammering and power tools.

Bikes thieves return to the same locations. If you think your bike has been interfered with, or a component removed, lock it somewhere else.

Even if you do actually catch someone, prepare to be disappointed. The CPS seem to take the matter much less seriously than the Police.

So what level of Sold Secure bike locks (the chain type, not D-locks) are generally safe from the bolt cutter-wielding thief? Sold Secure Gold? I have several Abus locks, which offer a range up to 15. I'm hoping level 10 is sufficient, even though I do have 1 of them at level 15.

Any experience on this forum?

Encouraging to hear that when the Police put in the resources, it makes a tangible difference. The challenge of course, is how to maintain the momentum. Without wishing to sound judgemental, we really need to encourage owners of £700 bikes not to use locks that are susceptible to bolt-cutters. Hand-in-hand with this, I think manufacturers should be encouraged to think about security - no one would ever buy a car that lacked door and ignition locks.