While the British Transport Police recently U-turned on a controversial policy not to investigate stolen bikes if they were left outside train stations for more than two hours, the existence of such a stance and subsequent backtracking have further eroded trust among many cyclists who already feel like bike theft is a low priority or effectively “decriminalised” in the United Kingdom.
In the West Midlands, for example, just two months after the British Transport Police admitted its policy “sent the wrong message about whose journeys matter”, there have been concerns about a drop in numbers of people leaving their bikes at transport hubs such as train and bus stations.
In fact, West Midlands Combined Authority data suggests there has been a fall of around 20 per cent in people using bike parking facilities at the region’s rail and bus stations.
In a bid to allay fears about bike thefts at public transport hubs being low priority, Transport for West Midlands’ Head of Security & Policing, Kerry Blakeman, told BirminghamLive their stance is “absolutely clear”.
“Where we spot individuals acting suspiciously in any of our cycle hubs, we contact the police,” he said.
> “Theft is now legal in Britain”: Only 0.5% of station bike thefts lead to charges
“We have the ability to speak to them via police radio and also have the ability to be able to drop images live into their control room.
“For me, if there is a crime in action we will do that and communicate with the police. We’re here to try to prevent and detect crime and we’re supporting the police in the delivery of that.
“Why wouldn’t you take an active response to stopping criminals in their tracks? Where we have active CCTV we will continue to proactively monitor those stations for people who are about to commit crime.
“We are 24/7, 365. We will do the majority of that viewing and we will narrow down the footage to literally, ‘there you go, there’s your snapshot of the bike before, there’s the person stealing it’.”
In January, after several months of criticism and complaints, the British Transport Police U-turned on its policy not to investigate instances of bike theft, if the stolen bike had been left by its owner at a station for longer than two hours.
The controversial policy was ridiculed and attracted disdain from campaigners, politicians and riders alike, commuters pointing out that it would essentially rule out anyone cycling to a station before getting a train to work from having their stolen bike investigated.
The British Transport Police attempted to defend the move and argued reviewing CCTV footage meant officers had less time “investigating crimes which cause the most harm”.
The force also blamed the media for “inaccurate” stories, a bizarre statement calling out the press for claiming they won’t investigate bikes stolen from train stations if they’ve been left for longer than two hours, only for the statement to then also confirm that such reporting is actually accurate and reflects British Transport Police’s policy.
In January, a U-turn on the policy was confirmed, campaigners calling it “common sense” and “a real win for everyone who uses our transport network”.
1 thought on “CCTV operators insist catching bike thieves still a priority, despite uncertainty around British Transport Police’s controversial no investigation U-turn”
Sadly still very much the case that ACAB when it comes to caring about cycling.