With bike theft a continuing threat, what would you do if you suddenly discovered your bike had been stolen? Should you leave it to the police, head round with some heavies or jump on the black-market merry-go-round and buy it back?At a loss? … the police warn against attempting to take a stolen bike back by force.
Your beloved bike has been stolen, and as per the advice all over the internet you’ve been scouring eBay and Gumtree for it. But if you do spot it, what next?
The obvious first answer is to contact the police; either your local station or, if you’re in London, the Metropolitan Police Service’s Cycle Task Force (cycletaskforce@met.police.uk). They urge bike owners to follow the 3 Rs – record, register (including a photo) and report (if stolen) – to maximise the chances of getting your bike back.
Reporting a sighting to the police does work out very well for some people. Charlotte Barnes and Julian Norman had eight of their bikes stolen from their garage, saw a couple of them for sale on eBay and got in touch with the Met Cycle Task Force. After a nailbiting week or so, all eight bikes were returned to them. Two people have since been arrested in connection with the case.
“I was initially concerned that they were taking quite a while before starting work on our case,” Charlottesays. “It just reflects how thin they’re stretched fighting cycle crime inLondon.” The statistics bear that out: only 2% ofLondon cycle crime was “detected” last year (ie with a suspect charged), although the number of returned bikes is probably a little higher than that. Nationwide, it’s estimated that around 5-8% of stolen bikes are returned to their owners.
According to Vicky Barnes of the Met, “each case is dealt with individually, and the length of time to act will vary”. Inevitably, given the numbers, there’s a risk that a bike will be sold on before the police are able to tackle the case. If you don’t think the police will act fast enough, what are your other options?
It might be tempting to round up a couple of hefty mates to have a “chat” with the thief. That advice certainly shows up a lot on bike forums – largely, it seems, from people who’ve never actually tried it. WhileCharlottedid know of a couple of people who’d successfully applied “overwhelming strength of numbers”, she and Julian never seriously considered that option. It’s certainly far from safe – remember, you’re dealing with people who are already on the wrong side of the law – and the police strongly recommend against it.
If you’re really desperate to get your bike back and you’re worried that the police won’t get there in time, it may seem safer (if infuriating) just to show up and buy it back.Charlotteadmits that winning the eBay auctions was their backup plan, “which gave us the option of turning up to collect them with local officers in tow”. Paying a thief for your own bike is going to be painful – but is it more or less painful than losing it?
Even then, it’s not that straightforward. There’s the known scam in which the seller mugs you for the cash when you turn up to buy the bike. Worse, if you’ve already contacted the police, by getting in touch with the seller you might screw up their operation.
Jon C saw his stolen bike being offered at a “seriously cheap” price online, with the police unable to investigate for a couple of days. Nervous that it would go, he phoned the seller, thinking he might just buy it back. When the arrangements began to increasingly seem like a setup for a mugging, and no local police officer was free to go along with him, he reluctantly backed out. Afterwards, the seller stopped answering the phone, the police were unable to go further and the bike is still sadly missing.
Agonising though the wait is, it probably is best to pass it on to the police and hope for the best. You can always fill in the waiting time by getting over those nagging feelings of disloyalty to your old steed early and planning the replacement bike you’ll get if it all goes to pot.
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