Posted on 04/22/2017 12:00:02 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
... In Los Angeles and virtually every city in North America, bicycle theft has almost become a crime without consequence, so widespread that it is treated less as a problem and more like one of the costs of urban life. Thieves can quickly cut locks on a target that serves as its own getaway vehicle, sell their ill-gotten goods to fencers for pennies on the dollar, and rest assured they will almost never be busted. Law enforcement officials, busy with other priorities, rarely commit to sustained campaigns to bust theft rings or even pursue arrests.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
The police don’t bother with bikes because someone somewhere isn’t wearing a seat belt.
This is a big problem in Berlin too. I noticed most of the bicycles left changed outside are even much crappier than mine (I actually love mine though). Many are rust buckets.
I watched some German commercial TV segment on stolen bikes four months ago. Zero effort by cops to resolve this....doesn’t matter if it’s in the US or Germany.
One group rigged up a bike with a GPS tracker, and even tracked a stolen bike to some warehouse operation....probably a hundred bikes sitting there. Some punk kid team who’d steal the bikes and just sell them for 20-percent of the value. You almost need some kind of ten-year sentence in prison to get the attention of the theft-ring involved.
LoL good one!
True. Every time I see a crappy paint job I think: stolen.
And that’s often.
Many are stolen by homeless who also steal anything else they can lay their hands on. Police never do anything about the homeless, so they break the law all the time without consequences.
Besides, where would all of the illegals get rides in LA, or in Berlin?
Someone spoke about this and was peddling some tired story but, changed gears when having a drink at The Handle Bar and the the whole thing just kinda fell flat.
So he went for a Schwinn and had a ball bearing in mind, the trike down the street considered herself a real Townie and would jump any BMX just to motocross the countryside.
Friday night...
Where I am, most bicycle thefts are opportunity crimes where somebody steals a bicycle to get somewhere, only to drop it when he gets to his location.
If I ever buy a bicycle, it will only be from a pawn shop.
Yep like joy riding.
New reality show: Bait Bike
There will be plenty of room in hell for all of these thieves...
It’s not where the money is. The police are transitioning to a private enterprise.
It’s been like this since I was a boy
60s
LAT’s fault for promoting socialism and poor behavior. LA is a ‘rat urban utopia.
They can’t stop murder, rape or heroin trafficking but you expect bicycle theft to be dealt with?
Good one......
House up the road looks like the one pictured. I’m told he’s a restorer. Fixes up discarded bikes & give to kids who don’t have.
The courthouse crowd can't make any money off of the homeless. With the homeless the crime has to be sensational for the courthouse to take notice because it's good press.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.