4 ms·

There are commercially available trackers, e.g. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bicycle-gps-tracker-GPS-GSM-GPRS-Quad-Band-Real-time-Google-Map-tracker-gps-305-M

by 05 10y ago

There are commercially available trackers, e.g. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bicycle-gps-tracker-GPS-GSM-GPRS-Quad-Band-Real-time-Google-Map-tracker-gps-305-Mini/1774760833.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bicycle-gps-tracker-GPS-GSM-G...

mc808 10y ago
Yes, I would look for something like that if I had an expensive city-bike. But the availability of trackers doesn't seem to have much effect on thefts or the perception that bikes are an easy target.
s_q_b 10y ago
One problem is that, even if you have your device GPS tracked, it can be hard to get the police to intervene, especially in large cities. Someone once stole my iPhone 5. I had find my iPhone enabled, and the phone was locked down. The thief began texting me from his own phone, demanding ransoms ranging from $100-$1000 for the return of the phone, while aggressively threatening to throw my phone into the Potomac. So I called the police. I reported the theft, and the address of the thief's residence, and the fact that the phone was tracked by GPS. They transferred me to a Detective, who told me that they would file a stolen property report. Throughout the week, I continued to receive increasingly erratic messages from the thief. The one consistent message was that if I didn't pay, he was insistent on throwing my phone into the river. So I arranged to meet him at my bank at the Dupont Circle branch (a busy location with guards.) I would make out a check to cash for $200, he would give me my iPhone, and I would stick around until the check was cashed. So when he arrived (we arranged to meet via picture exchange, so I had that as well as evidence), the thief approached me at the bank door. There was a police car immediately outside the bank, and I shouted to the officer "HELP!" The man ran. I went to the officer and said, "That man stole my phone!" Instantly, he jumped in his vehicle, told me to hop in the passenger seat, and we took off down P street. The officer stopped the car, sprinted after the thief, and he obeyed the cop's order to stop. The man was taken to jail for theft and resisting arrest. I said I didn't want to press charges as he was obviously severely disturbed. I asked if he could be given rehabilitation or treatment. They said they would place him on a 72-hour psychiatric hold. As far as I know, that maybe only got him a shower, a few meals, and three days in a psych ward at GW Hospital, but I thought it better than anything else I could do. I still wonder if I could have done something else to help the guy. But the real moral of my story, is that even with a GPS beacon, it can be very very difficult to get the police to recover stolen property.
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  You're a good person, and you also shared an effective way of retrieving stolen property that I'd never thought about before.
  - Chronic51 10y ago
    He's a good person. Me and a million others would have pressed charges. Are we bad people?
    - BobCat 10y ago
      The way to get someone like that help is to have a court order it. Always press charges, you are not smarter than judges and hospitals.
    - jerf 10y ago
      A morality in which someone steals something from you, and then also incurs moral obligations on you to address their mental health issues, isn't really scalable. If you want to help him and go above and beyond, more power to you and my blessings upon you, but it is a bonus, not an obligation.
      - s_q_b 10y ago
        You speak of "their mental health issues", as if psychiatric disorders are a purely personal burden. I would no more refuse to help a mentally ill person than I would refuse to perform CPR on a person having a heart attack. They didn't choose to be this way.
        jerf 10y ago
        It took longer for a virtue signaller to show up on this post than I expected. I expect most of them reached my second sentence and noticed I already pointed out that you had the option of helping them if you like, just not an obligation. So are you saying pretty words to make yourself feel better while trying to put me down, or do you actually go and seek out mentally ill people to help out on some regular basis? And given how grand your words are, I'm not going to be satisfied with merely giving some people a buck every so often. I fully expect those are empty words. I am not impressed. You are not virtuous for saying them. I'll repeat: It makes no moral sense for someone committing a crime against you to create obligations on you. It is a bonus above and beyond what you are obligated to if you help them.

by 05 10y ago

mc808 10y ago

Yes, I would look for something like that if I had an expensive city-bike. But the availability of trackers doesn't seem to have much effect on thefts or the perception that bikes are an easy target.

s_q_b 10y ago

One problem is that, even if you have your device GPS tracked, it can be hard to get the police to intervene, especially in large cities. Someone once stole my iPhone 5. I had find my iPhone enabled, and the phone was locked down. The thief began texting me from his own phone, demanding ransoms ranging from $100-$1000 for the return of the phone, while aggressively threatening to throw my phone into the Potomac. So I called the police. I reported the theft, and the address of the thief's residence, and the fact that the phone was tracked by GPS. They transferred me to a Detective, who told me that they would file a stolen property report. Throughout the week, I continued to receive increasingly erratic messages from the thief. The one consistent message was that if I didn't pay, he was insistent on throwing my phone into the river. So I arranged to meet him at my bank at the Dupont Circle branch (a busy location with guards.) I would make out a check to cash for $200, he would give me my iPhone, and I would stick around until the check was cashed. So when he arrived (we arranged to meet via picture exchange, so I had that as well as evidence), the thief approached me at the bank door. There was a police car immediately outside the bank, and I shouted to the officer "HELP!" The man ran. I went to the officer and said, "That man stole my phone!" Instantly, he jumped in his vehicle, told me to hop in the passenger seat, and we took off down P street. The officer stopped the car, sprinted after the thief, and he obeyed the cop's order to stop. The man was taken to jail for theft and resisting arrest. I said I didn't want to press charges as he was obviously severely disturbed. I asked if he could be given rehabilitation or treatment. They said they would place him on a 72-hour psychiatric hold. As far as I know, that maybe only got him a shower, a few meals, and three days in a psych ward at GW Hospital, but I thought it better than anything else I could do. I still wonder if I could have done something else to help the guy. But the real moral of my story, is that even with a GPS beacon, it can be very very difficult to get the police to recover stolen property.

pavel_lishin 10y ago
You're a good person, and you also shared an effective way of retrieving stolen property that I'd never thought about before.
- Chronic51 10y ago
  He's a good person. Me and a million others would have pressed charges. Are we bad people?
  - BobCat 10y ago
    The way to get someone like that help is to have a court order it. Always press charges, you are not smarter than judges and hospitals.
  - jerf 10y ago
    A morality in which someone steals something from you, and then also incurs moral obligations on you to address their mental health issues, isn't really scalable. If you want to help him and go above and beyond, more power to you and my blessings upon you, but it is a bonus, not an obligation.
    - s_q_b 10y ago
      You speak of "their mental health issues", as if psychiatric disorders are a purely personal burden. I would no more refuse to help a mentally ill person than I would refuse to perform CPR on a person having a heart attack. They didn't choose to be this way.
      - jerf 10y ago
        It took longer for a virtue signaller to show up on this post than I expected. I expect most of them reached my second sentence and noticed I already pointed out that you had the option of helping them if you like, just not an obligation. So are you saying pretty words to make yourself feel better while trying to put me down, or do you actually go and seek out mentally ill people to help out on some regular basis? And given how grand your words are, I'm not going to be satisfied with merely giving some people a buck every so often. I fully expect those are empty words. I am not impressed. You are not virtuous for saying them. I'll repeat: It makes no moral sense for someone committing a crime against you to create obligations on you. It is a bonus above and beyond what you are obligated to if you help them.