Garda unit to tackle bike theft

Ghost Rider

From today's Indo...

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Gardai saddle up to tackle bike thieves

A SPECIAL unit is to be set up by the Garda authorities to tackle bicycle theft - after figures for the second quarter of the year showed the number of stolen bicycles had increased by 85pc.

Between April and June the thefts jumped from 109 to 202. The increase prompted Justice Minister Michael McDowell to raise the issue with the Garda Commissioner.

Figures for the first six months of the year revealed a 68pc increase in bicycle theft, while year-on-year statistics to the end of June showed a 35pc rise. "This is a growing problem," Mr McDowell said yesterday. "It deters people from buying new bicycles, while at the same time there is a lucrative trade in stolen models and this has to be examined."

The overall crime rate is up 1pc for April-June, the first quarterly rise in two-and-a-half years. The number of murders rose p from nine to 14, due mainly to a spate of gun crimes in Dublin.

But, since the introduction of Operation Anvil seven weeks ago, there have been no similar incidents. Mr McDowell said this was significant and encouraging. Crime for the first half of the year is down 3pc while year-on-year headline figures are down 4pc.

Tom Brady
Security Editor

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Trojan

And that's only the reported ones.

GreeBo

yeah, they need to crack down on the people who are buying them to sell, thats whats causing the problem

I got a new (expensive) bike from a shop in templeogue and it was taken from the shed in my back garden within 1 month, when I went back in I happened to be talking to a guy there and he had bought the same bike from the same shop and it was also stolen from his house.
I thought it suspicious and went elsewhere...

Downtime

GreeBo wrote:

I got a new (expensive) bike from a shop in templeogue and it was taken from the shed in my back garden within 1 month, when I went back in I happened to be talking to a guy there and he had bought the same bike from the same shop and it was also stolen from his house.
I thought it suspicious and went elsewhere...

Are you saying that Hollingsworth Cycles are selling bike and then nicking them back.

I had an expensive bike robbed after 2 months - the guy in the shop said it was the third one that they had sold recently that had been robbed. Definitely wasn't the bike shop that nicked it as I didn't give them my address.

Fidelis

Yeah, careful when buying bikes. Some places will ask you for your address to include it on the receipt, but this is completely unnecessary.

GreeBo

Downtime wrote:

Are you saying that Hollingsworth Cycles are selling bike and then nicking them back.

that is exactly what I am not saying.

Downtime wrote:

I had an expensive bike robbed after 2 months - the guy in the shop said it was the third one that they had sold recently that had been robbed. Definitely wasn't the bike shop that nicked it as I didn't give them my address.

did you pay via credit card?

GreeBo

Fidelis wrote:

Yeah, careful when buying bikes. Some places will ask you for your address to include it on the receipt, but this is completely unnecessary.

Yeah, the shop I bought it in took my address as part of the guarantee I think it was.

uberwolf

careful now. I realise there have been no aspersions quite yet - lets keep it that way.

Downtime

GreeBo wrote:

that is exactly what I am not saying. did you pay via credit card?

That's that clarified, thankfully. Wasn't saying that you were btw - just wondering. No didn't pay via credit card.

motrocco

I have had to have three bikes forceably pried from the hands of three different culprits who have bought stolen bikes.

Each time the guards had to get involved.

First guy:- Homeless guy, selling BIG ISSUE in town, leaning on my bike. Got excited when I approached him, threatened me. I stopped a passing guard and after some shanigans and brokering (he WAS going to be charge with recieving stolen goods) I got it back. BIKE worth, 30 pounds Irish, he paid 10.

Second guy:- Chinese guy, working in a restaruant on Baggot Street, friend seen it locked there rang me. I brought a car jack and a lock with me. Started jacking lock off when he came out and started kung fuk-fooing. Smack of bicycle lock, locked bike with said lock, rang guards. Turns out he paid 30 yo-yo for it from kids on street. Lied initally but eventually said he'd no reciept to guard who happened to have had a 3 grand bike knicked during the month. I paid 50 yo for this one.

Third guy:- Indian guy cycling through town one Saturday night. I'd had a few pints and was with mates. Pushed him off bike. Kick him in the arse. Told him to fuuu-kooff to India. Bike returned without the assistance of guards.

I'd reported the first bike, didn't the second two.

Since I've started cycling I've had 11 bikes stolen, and only got the above 3 back. Reported 6 or 7 of them. I estimate I've had 3-4 grands worht of bikes knicked. One of them was worth 2,000 punts plus. Only ever say it once and the guy (I think!) knew it was me and raced off into the night. Never seen again. this one was robbed from a bank lobby.

I now never spend more than 200 yo-yo on a bike, have two locks, lock in well lit, busy places, that aren't crawling with knacks or junks and most importantly, HAVE OTHER BIKES LOCKED NEAR BY.

Seeing as I've only ever reported half of my bikes knicked, and really the two the guards helped DECTECT, this is a bull **** figure.

ADDITIONAL INFO:-
Was off Cork Street one weekend recently, when I came across a childs bike mangled into several. Asked a local knack what the goof was and it turns out some young fellas have a bolt cutters on them and are chopping anything into bits. Cycled off slowly, turned a corner. There's ther guys sitting on a carbon fibre Cannondale (all matt black) offering it for 150yo.

Guards if your reading, any young fella with a four foot bolt cutters after 8 in the evening needs to be checked, questioned, searched and call over to his parents or friends house.

mod edit: inciteful comments removed

Ghost Rider

I don't think it's that simple. You don't take on people who wear Nike runners in order to solve the problem of sweat shops in Indonesia, do you?

Well, maybe you do... But my point is that stolen bikes are cheap bikes. If people are looking for cheap bikes, it's probably not because they're too scabby to pay for new ones. It's probably because they just can't afford new-bike prices.

Is it pure coincidence that an economy with such a huge gulf between rich and poor also has an incredibly high rate of bike theft? I doubt it.

And let's not turn this into a racial issue either. (I'm talking about a different post now, obviously.) You can blame immigrant labourers and/or invite them to return to their home country all you like . But they're not the ones actually robbing the bikes. The thieves are mostly Irish, I suspect.

Plus, chances are the thieves on the dole and/or receiving various benefits from our State, whereas immigrant labourers are at least contributing to our economy. Let's direct our fire at homegrown criminals before taking it out on low-paid workers whose inclination to buy stolen bikes merely reflects their harsh economic realities.

This is a political and a policing issue, not a racial one. I suggest that if the State is serious about encouraging cycling, then it should provide illuminated, high-capacity bike racks at key locations in the city centre. These racks should be policed as any other property in the city centre is, and should become part of the "beat" of any patrolling Garda in the area. The State should more or less guarantee the safety of our bikes, assuming we take a minimum level of responsibility for locking and securing them.

GreeBo wrote:

yeah, they need to crack down on the people who are buying them to sell, thats whats causing the problem
QUOTE]

GreeBo

Ghost Rider wrote:

I don't think it's that simple. You don't take on people who wear Nike runners in order to solve the problem of sweat shops in Indonesia, do you?

Well actually some campaigns do, but thats neither here nor there
The fact that there are people driving around in vans, into places like UCD, clipping a few locks and loading up with 10 bikes is the problem.
I dont believe that they are stealing these on the odd chance that they can sell one or two of them, they have a fence and they get sold as second hand bikes.
The increase is not due to some scumbag pinching a bike he spots on the street, its a business.

Ghost Rider

Yes, I'm aware of Adbusters and the like. And, yes, that point is neither here nor there. I don't think anybody's suggesting a publicity campaign about not buying stolen bikes.

While my characterisation of bike thieves in Dublin may be incomplete, the point about the economics of bike theft still stands. It is not simply the buyers who cause the problem. The buyer is only one side of it. (It makes no difference whether the buyer wants the bike for their own use individual or for re-sale i.e. a "fence").

The bigger point is that while the Government can claim to be unable to affect "overnight" the economic circumstances that create the need for cheap bikes, they can certainly take decisive action to cut down on the stealing part of it.

In other words, tackling the thieves is likely to be a more effective way of addressnig the bike theft problem than tackling the buyers i.e. the economy as a whole!

GreeBo wrote:

Well actually some campaigns do, but thats neither here nor there
The fact that there are people driving around in vans, into places like UCD, clipping a few locks and loading up with 10 bikes is the problem.
I dont believe that they are stealing these on the odd chance that they can sell one or two of them, they have a fence and they get sold as second hand bikes.
The increase is not due to some scumbag pinching a bike he spots on the street, its a business.

GreeBo

Ghost Rider wrote:

In other words, tackling the thieves is likely to be a more effective way of addressnig the bike theft problem than tackling the buyers i.e. the economy as a whole!

You are totally missing my point.
I dont think there is any future in going after individuals.
Its the people/companies that are buying stolen bikes by the van load for resale that are the problem.
Every country in the world has theft on a small scale, you wont see much if you go after the individuals. If there is no market for the van loads of stolen bikes then bikes will not be stolen by the van load. Simple.

Ghost Rider

I never disagreed with your general point that the people who buy bikes by the vanload have a level of culpability comparable to the culpability of those who steal them by the vanload. (Personally I feel the culpability of the buyer is less than that of the thief but that's arguable, I admit.)

As my initial post indicated, I've been talking about Government policy all along - what is to be done, in other words. And my point was this: it's easier and more realistic to expect a government to clamp down on thieves than to clamp down on poverty.

The context for that point was the user who posted an account of some of his bike theft experiences in which he/she blamed the buyers, not the thieves. That seemed pretty wide of the mark to me.

We could miss each others points all day - life's too short and I'm at work!

GreeBo wrote:

You are totally missing my point.
I dont think there is any future in going after individuals.
Its the people/companies that are buying stolen bikes by the van load for resale that are the problem.
Every country in the world has theft on a small scale, you wont see much if you go after the individuals. If there is no market for the van loads of stolen bikes then bikes will not be stolen by the van load. Simple.

Chalk

motrocco wrote:

.
I brought a car jack and a lock with me.
Started jacking lock off when he came out and started kung fuk-fooing. Smack of bicycle lock,

are you taking the pis,
is any part of that true?
either your an absolute racist scumbag , and the cop was an idiot,
or youd be in prison for assualt with a weapon.

Third guy:- Indian guy cycling through town one Saturday night. I'd had a few pints and was with mates. Pushed him off bike. Kick him in the arse. Told him to fuuu-kooff to India. Bike returned without the assistance of guards.

more assualt and racism, lovely.

One of them has loads of bikes for the Chinese/Indian labourer. Nigerians are given money from the government to go buy cars so they aren't racially slurred on the bus.

did they let you off stormfront for the day?
evidence and/or facts are a general requirement.

Ghost Rider

Yeah, I was curious about this myself.

True stories, Motrocco?

Or fantasies of a would-be vigilante?

Chalk wrote:

are you taking the pis,
is any part of that true?
either your an absolute racist scumbag , and the cop was an idiot,
or youd be in prison for assualt with a weapon.




more assualt and racism, lovely.



did they let you off stormfront for the day?
evidence and/or facts are a general requirement.

Karma

if its your bike, would you ask nicely?
It doesn't mather who is on your bike, Their on your bike! you will want it back. Every time we have tried to confront someone peacefully- even the robbers, it dones't end that way, usually. stick to the point and facts, conclusions are a waste if not relevent.
Bike theft is wrong but so many people treat biking a bike as a victimless crime(they{said scumbags!} have already stolen the bike etc...) whatever-dont do it.
buy a good lock- make it difficult and dont be stupid with your bike- no nipping to shops without your lock.
maybe a bike tracker-€60 in a certin city centre bike shop.
if it does get nicked, report it. who knows, bikes are found and returned.
record your bike details(I still haven't done it myself-be right back)
there has been a spate of bikes being robbed from homes and sheds.
usually you have just beeen followed- sometimes they hang around a bike shop and follow ya home. sometimes it could be a mate in a shop passing on a call. not to induce paranoia(forgive the bad spelling) but if you have a nice bike, it will get nicked if you are not careful.
there are organised groups as well as kids doing this. coming from all angles...
wish it didn't happen but it does.
my bikes are locked almost:D all the time I am away from them, even at home.
Hope there is some good from all this, not just to be harrassed from cycling a suspeceted stolen bike.
regards
Karma

zokrez

I have seen the van on 2 occasions on Stephen Street, near Major Toms. They pull up, 2 guys jumped out, bolt cutters, snip snip, other guy lifts bike and into van, gone within 30 seconds. I was too dumbstruck the first time, the 2nd time in exactly the same place a couple of weeks later - this time I took the reg. number and passed onto the police - never heard anything again.

All you have to do is use the bait of a couple of nice bikes and lie in wait and they will catch very quickly. Why they announced this to the press I dont know !

Chalk

Karma wrote:

if its your bike, would you ask nicely?
It doesn't mather who is on your bike, Their on your bike! you will want it back. Every time we have tried to confront someone peacefully- even the robbers, it dones't end that way, usually. stick to the point and facts, conclusions are a waste if not relevent.

so some dude who bought a second hand bike and now sees it being stolen from outside his place of work deserves a lock in the face for trying to stop the theft?
and the guy whos cycling through town on a bike he bought deserves to be kicked off it and have the bike taken?

all this while making racist comments and with no explanation to him of whats happening?
what makes it worse is that he may be new to the country and be un familiar with the place.
ring the f.cking gards,
taking the law into your own hands is really the way to solve crime,
especially if your such a big man you need a weapon or a bunch of mates to help you do it.

im sorry to hear your bike got stolen,
but two wrongs dont make a right and, if i was in a position to, id help the guy you randomly assaulted with your mates,
remember that tennis player attacking the librarian on grafton street?
thats you,
id testify to what i saw and laugh if you got time.

grow up.

motrocco

Being honest I didn't mean to come across as racist. Just pissed off at having bikes nicked.

Yes this all is true.

No I don't start with the kung-fu, and I suppose he wasn't to know the bike had been nicked from me. I could have been trying to nick his bike. I was 'WORKED UP' so yeah, I'm not going to take any ****.

True immigrants do work hard and don't bum from us. They weren't all immigrants cycling my bikes.

I have heard of these guys going around in a van.

Still pissed off at having many bikes stolen that I paid good money for.

Ghost Rider

It's hard not to take bike theft and/or vandalism personally. My lowest hour came when I emerged from a pub to find someone had kicked my rear wheel in, rendering it utterly useless.

I responded by kicking the wheel so hard I got my foot stuck between the spokes. I couldn't pull it out for ages. All I could do was hop around on one leg yelling obscenities at the bike.

Luckily, it was 2am and I was on Camden Street, so I didn't stand out as much as I might have elsewhere...

motrocco wrote:

Being honest I didn't mean to come across as racist. Just pissed off at having bikes nicked.

Yes this all is true.

No I don't start with the kung-fu, and I suppose he wasn't to know the bike had been nicked from me. I could have been trying to nick his bike. I was 'WORKED UP' so yeah, I'm not going to take any ****.

True immigrants do work hard and don't bum from us. They weren't all immigrants cycling my bikes.

I have heard of these guys going around in a van.

Still pissed off at having many bikes stolen that I paid good money for.

Civilian_Target

I don't get it. All the Gardaí need to do to catch the biggest bike theives is leave a few grands worth of nice bikes locked in the bike-racks of the city centre, with GPS tracking devices inside them, and see where they go! Its not rocket science.

Karma

Chalk wrote:

so some dude who bought a second hand bike and now sees it being stolen from outside his place of work deserves a lock in the face for trying to stop the theft?
and the guy whos cycling through town on a bike he bought deserves to be kicked off it and have the bike taken?

all this while making racist comments and with no explanation to him of whats happening?
what makes it worse is that he may be new to the country and be un familiar with the place.
ring the f.cking gards,
taking the law into your own hands is really the way to solve crime,
especially if your such a big man you need a weapon or a bunch of mates to help you do it.
I see jump to conclusions boy strikes back.

Have you ever been in the situation, where you or a "Friends" bike got nicked and you saw someone else on it a week later? would you call the Gardi?(good luck waiting for them- an average of 2hrs delay to respond- and that was in sight of Pearse st Garda station!) Or would you try and get it back?
I have never heard of anyone being done for receiving stolen goods with regard to bikes. have you?
I have had 2 bikes each nicked 3 times and got them back. No thanks to the gardi.(more important crime was taking place-limited resources and such)
I have been hit by people who have tried to fight me for my bike but I have been lucky in such situations, unlike a friend of mine how got jumped by 2 guys and got bitten, beaten and kicked for questioning one of them about the bike he had[mine] and rang the guards and no contact back about the assault or the theft).
im sorry to hear your bike got stolen,
but two wrongs dont make a right and, if i was in a position to, id help the guy you randomly assaulted with your mates,
remember that tennis player attacking the librarian on grafton street?
thats you,
id testify to what i saw and laugh if you got time.
I see jump to conclusions boy strikes back again! (a sequel?)
grow up. If only...

With some luck(fingers crossed) we can see and feel the results of this new garda inititive.
get a bike nicked and see if you can stay on the moral high ground.

Sorry Uberwolf if this is out of line but...

Chalk

jump to conclusions?
i just repeated what the man said.
if he had another point to make he had every opportunity to make it.

he has even replied and not defended what he said,
rather sying "im not a racist"
well neither am i, but i dont give out about them getting non-existent grants at the end of each post i make.

if you feel the best way to get your justice is to assault someone with a weapon,
who, if they are reacting in a violent way, would at the very least be only following the method you recommend.
this is why we have laws regarding these things.

i have had things nicked and so on,
i just dont feel the need to "Pushed him off bike. Kick him in the arse. Told him to fuuu-kooff to India" with a bunch of mates to back me up.

why not hold him there and find a guard?
you cant be arsed?
fine, rough justice for everyone.

Ghost Rider

Are you a moderator on this forum, Karma?

Karma wrote:

With some luck(fingers crossed) we can see and feel the results of this new garda inititive.
get a bike nicked and see if you can stay on the moral high ground.

Sorry Uberwolf if this is out of line but...

uberwolf

rare enough I have to take action round these parts - I'm liberal enough in cycling generally. But this thread is well of topic and aggro.

Locked.