Police & Crime Commissioner defends under-fire force accused of "astonishing victim blaming" by cycling campaign group, after officers raised concerns that installing more bike parking is "not ideal" and could cause "bigger increase in crime"

A row between Oxfordshire cyclists and the Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner erupted after it emerged a Neighbourhoods Policing Team had raised concerns with new on-street cycle parking spaces in Oxford as "without adequate crime prevention" it could cause the police "further burden" and "any more encouragement to have more bikes in the city will see an even bigger increase in bike crime".

Those written concerns were presented to the council regarding the proposed scheme, Oxfordshire Cycling Network sharing a screenshot of the comments on Twitter/X and asking Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber, "Do you have any grip on this?"

"Astonishing victim blaming by Thames Valley Police [TVP] here," the campaign group wrote. "Concerns about cycle parking because they might encourage people to bring more cycles into the city, encouraging more crime. What next?

"Do TVP want parking spaces removed to reduce car crime? Will TVP object to a shopping centre because it will bring more shoplifting? That new housing development will have burglaries, or burglars, so they should object. But they only object to bike stands."

Barber disagreed and refuted the idea that the concerns expressed were victim blaming. 

"Extraordinary that anyone would object to the police calling for crime prevention measures to STOP people becoming victims of crime!" he responded. "This isn't victim blaming. This literally says that if the plans go ahead they should be designed with crime prevention in mind.

"Surely everyone would want new infrastructure to come with crime prevention at its heart. Just as the police will make comments to prevent crime on new housing estates and other major projects. We all want less crime and to keep people's bikes safe."

The Police & Crime Commissioner was particularly highlighting the mention of "without adequate crime prevention" and the second paragraph of the Neighbourhood Policing Team's concerns, which stated: "Should these measures proceed I would like to see the right crime prevention and security for bikes was included and the on-street parking bays were placed strategically under under observation from a CCTV camera it would be more suitable, but still not ideal."

However, Barber's response did not end the discussion, another reply telling the Police & Crime Commissioner: "Fine if it stopped at recommending the sensible security measures. Instead it says, even with these, it is 'not ideal' to encourage more people to cycle as more bikes cause more opportunist crime. Awful take from a policing team, but even more worrying that you can't see why."

Another suggested the final paragraph of the concerns is "clearly discouraging any more bikes".

Labour and Co-operative county councillor Charlie Hicks also replied to Barber: "This is a totally ridiculous and illogical position. What else would Barber suggest in the name of crime prevention? Don't buy houses to prevent burglary? Don't use phones to prevent thefts? This is classic two-tier policing from a police force that doesn't care about road safety."

This is Oxfordshire has reported that Andrew Gant from Oxfordshire County Council has approved the new racks on Brasenose Lane, Ship Street, Queens Lane, Leopold Street, Observatory Street and South Parade, commenting: "You might feel that crime prevention is a matter for TVP but there you go." He also pointed out that CCTV was a matter for the owners of nearby buildings, the council saying it has already agreed to pay for the cycle parking "despite significant constraints on local funding".

Public faith in the police's attitude towards bike theft remains low, 2024 beginning with an analysis of Home Office figures by the Liberal Democrats suggesting that at that point more than 365,000 reported bike thefts had gone unsolved since 2019.

The party also warned that bike theft has been effectively "decriminalised", a YouGov survey from 2022 also finding that three quarters of Brits don't expect the police to bother investigating bike thefts. In September 2023, it was revealed that bike thefts at train stations had increased by 39 per cent in 2022 compared with 2021.

> Police failed to catch a bike thief in 87% of affected neighbourhoods in past three years

Cycling UK's Director of External Affairs Sarah McMonagle commented: "While we acknowledge the limitations on police resources, with more than half of stolen bikes being resold online there's clearly huge scope for improved targeting of internet marketplaces to identify and prosecute serial offenders and organised criminals."

There also remain concerns from Oxfordshire cyclists with the way TVP deals with other incidents, notably dangerous driving and video footage reports made to the force by cyclists.

Just last week we reported that Barber's office admitted there are "very valid concerns" regarding how the force has dealt with footage of alleged dangerous driving reported by cyclists.

The office of the Police & Crime Commissioner said: "The force is recruiting to fill a 'shortage in resources' and staff that has meant 'Notice of Intended Prosecutions are not able to be sent to the offending driver within the legal timeframe of 14 days."

A "dismayed" road.cc reader from Oxfordshire told us that TVP requires a "real change in culture" around road safety, the police force having failed to take action on multiple clips of "hugely dangerous" driving that the cyclist caught on camera during his rides.