No-one Reported It

How easy is it to steal a bicycle?

It’s a doddle. Especially when people ignore what is happening. In this experiment by Avon and Somerset Police, not only did passers-by fail to challenge the thief while the crime was being committed, but no-one reported the crime afterwards either.

See the report on the BBC website.

As someone who has had their bicycle stolen I don’t know whether to be surprised or not.

I’m not sure if I’d challenge a thief committing a crime like this at the time – I think I’d shout at them from where I was, I’d be afraid to run up to them to challenge them physically. But I would at least report the crime to the Police as quickly as possible, and have done this in the past. If the Police don’t know they can’t do anything about it.

My advice? Use a D-Lock.

Lincolnshire Police say they have never had a bicycle theft reported where a D-Lock had been used to secure the bike. Cable locks, however thick (or expensive) can generally be cut with bolt cutters – and as proved by Avon and Somerset Police, thieves are free to wander around carrying heavy duty bolt cutters that go through them like butter.