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The lack of enforcement incentivises poor people to criminalize themselves, which makes them easier for authorities to manage. There are many solutions to bike

The lack of enforcement incentivises poor people to criminalize themselves, which makes them easier for authorities to manage. There are many solutions to bike theft, but the only reasonable conclusion is that it is in fact not a problem. There is no amout of data, stories, or pressure that will make it a priority because it is specifically something that is managed. Police can increase and decrease enforcement of it at their absolute discretion, while tolerating it in neighbourhoods where they wish to. I was a serious urban cyclist 25 years ago, and participated in Critical Mass rides and alleycat races and the activist culture that ultimately yielded the bikelanes we have today, but I've switched to a car and motorcycle because they're just better, and I don't want to participate in what that culture has become. I have little sympathy for bike thieves or people who loot cars and the stories about desperation from people who anecdotally go ballistic at other kinds of victim blaming, so long as it's not the victims of an actual crime. As someone who lives in a city that has snow 6 months a year, and has a huge rate of bike theft and car breakins, do you know what you can leave on your porch year round that will never get stolen? Shovels and brooms. When snow shovels and brooms aren't safe, I'll engage in the conversation about poverty, but until then, bike theft is just predatory opportunism.

simonebrunozzi 6y ago
> There are many solutions to bike theft, but the only reasonable conclusion is that it is in fact not a problem. There is no amout of data, stories, or pressure that will make it a priority because it is specifically something that is managed. I think you nailed it here. I never thought about it with this clarity.
at-fates-hands 6y ago
I remember my friend had his commuter bike stolen in Minneapolis. He called the MPD to report it right after it happened. They basically told him they have more important stuff to worry about. If he wanted to fill out a form for it he could come down, but no guarantees they would find it. The dispatcher basically told him to stop by the bike auction and maybe it would turn up there. When I worked in a bike shop, a co-worker told me there's multiple bike rings who steal and run bikes between Minneapolis and Chicago. From there, they go all over the country - mostly to the east coast. He said they're able to steal a few hundred bikes a month, and since the cops turn a blind eye, its easy money.
TMWNN 6y ago
>As someone who lives in a city that has snow 6 months a year, and has a huge rate of bike theft and car breakins, do you know what you can leave on your porch year round that will never get stolen? Shovels and brooms. Bookstores were untouched while electronics and clothing stores were hit hard during the 2011 London riots https://slate.com/culture/2011/08/london-riots-why-looters-didnt-hit-the-bookstores.html https://slate.com/culture/2011/08/london-riots-why-looters-d...

simonebrunozzi 6y ago

> There are many solutions to bike theft, but the only reasonable conclusion is that it is in fact not a problem. There is no amout of data, stories, or pressure that will make it a priority because it is specifically something that is managed. I think you nailed it here. I never thought about it with this clarity.

at-fates-hands 6y ago

I remember my friend had his commuter bike stolen in Minneapolis. He called the MPD to report it right after it happened. They basically told him they have more important stuff to worry about. If he wanted to fill out a form for it he could come down, but no guarantees they would find it. The dispatcher basically told him to stop by the bike auction and maybe it would turn up there. When I worked in a bike shop, a co-worker told me there's multiple bike rings who steal and run bikes between Minneapolis and Chicago. From there, they go all over the country - mostly to the east coast. He said they're able to steal a few hundred bikes a month, and since the cops turn a blind eye, its easy money.

TMWNN 6y ago

>As someone who lives in a city that has snow 6 months a year, and has a huge rate of bike theft and car breakins, do you know what you can leave on your porch year round that will never get stolen? Shovels and brooms. Bookstores were untouched while electronics and clothing stores were hit hard during the 2011 London riots https://slate.com/culture/2011/08/london-riots-why-looters-didnt-hit-the-bookstores.html https://slate.com/culture/2011/08/london-riots-why-looters-d...