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Police chief pledges crackdown on bike thieves in Brighton... the city where police refused to watch CCTV of a bike theft

Police said that using staff time to watch the footage “was not proportionate to the nature of the offence”

Brighton’s police chief has professed herself “absolutely exasperated” at a significant rise in bike thefts in the city, assuring residents, “we are absolutely taking this seriously.” Chief Superintendent Lisa Bell also said that officers would be “exploiting CCTV and understanding the areas where this is prevalent” – even though the force recently refused to watch its own footage of a bike theft.

Last month thieves took the saddle from David Bailey’s £1,000 mountain bike so that he couldn’t ride it home and then returned that night to cut through the lock.

The bike was taken from an area that is covered by police-controlled CCTV, but when Bailey phoned 101 he was told that using staff time to view the footage was “not proportionate to the nature of the offence.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “CCTV covering the area was not checked because the use of staff time to search 12 hours of recordings was assessed in this case as not proportionate to the nature of the offence.”

As several readers pointed out in the comments to our article, all an officer would have to do would be to play the middle of the recording to see if the bike was still there or not. This process could then be repeated a number of times to easily find the exact moment the bike was taken.

Bell told The Argus that there has been a “significant rise” in thefts in Brighton and because of this police now believe that thieves could be operating in groups or as an organised gang.

“Bike thefts have gone up. I am absolutely exasperated this is happening in a city that wants to promote the green agenda by using bikes. How frustrating that at 9am you chain up your bike and then when you come back at 5pm it is gone. Some people spend a fortune on their bike, it is their mode of transport. I absolutely share their frustration.”

Police are now launching Operation Ensnare which will involve dedicated investigators and a campaign for people to get their bikes marked and registered.

Bell said: “We will be exploiting CCTV and understanding the areas where this is prevalent. We will also be giving crime prevention advice because some people are responsible but many people might not use extra security measures.

“We are absolutely taking this seriously. We recognise the importance - it may not seem like a heavy duty crime but when it is your mode of transport having your bike stolen can cause huge problems. Some cost thousands of pounds and if it is stolen there is the added cost of alternative transport - the effect cannot be underestimated.”

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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9 comments

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bruxia | 6 years ago
0 likes

can you do an FOI request of the CCTV?

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Morat replied to bruxia | 6 years ago
1 like

bruxia wrote:

can you do an FOI request of the CCTV?

 

You can put in a Subject Access Request to show images of yourself but not anyone else. This is under the Data Protection Act, not Freedom of Information.

https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/cctv/

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bsknight | 6 years ago
2 likes

¨... all an officer would have to do would be to play the middle of the recording to see if the bike was still there or not. This process could then be repeated a number of times to easily find the exact moment the bike was taken.¨

This would require some lateral thinking from Mr/Ms Plod, not something they are known for.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that the the Police require us to pay both for them to do nothing about ¨minor crimes¨ and then pay for insurance to remedy the situation. The criminals, of course, continue, knowing nothing will happen to them.

Still, as long as they can joyride in helicopters (here in Bristol) all is well with law enforcement.

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Valbrona | 6 years ago
0 likes
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bsknight replied to Valbrona | 6 years ago
4 likes

Valbrona wrote:

Britain's most Marxist Police Service are too busy dealing with hate crime:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hate-crime-officer-sergeant-peter-allan-sussex-police-tesco-sainsburys-tampons-womens-hygiene-a7891226.html

 

Posted by someone who hasn´t a clue what Marxism is.

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Rapha Nadal | 6 years ago
1 like

There is, or was, a Giant TCR in the old ONCE livery locked to our road sign.  Over the course of a month, it's been stripped bare - forks, headset, even bottle boss bolts, the lot.  Shame I've no idea how to break the lock as it pains me to see the bare frame just left to rot in the sea air  2

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alansmurphy | 6 years ago
4 likes

The Police are good at this.

 

I managed to find and follow a group of 5 that had stolen my bike, Cheshire police refused to come out but would send someone to my house a few hours later. Next week in the local paper there was a piece on how hard they were working to crack the bike theft gang!

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Bluebug | 6 years ago
1 like

Oldest trick in the book. 

Take something off a bike or puncture a tyre so the owner leaves it there. You then have time to get correct cutting gear to cut the lock.

Oh and even if the police do find out who stole the bike don't expect the CPS to do anything unless the CCTV is crystal clear, and the alleged thief admits it or there is a witness.

Avatar
kie7077 replied to Bluebug | 6 years ago
1 like

Bluebug wrote:

Oldest trick in the book. 

Take something off a bike or puncture a tyre so the owner leaves it there. You then have time to get correct cutting gear to cut the lock.

Oh and even if the police do find out who stole the bike don't expect the CPS to do anything unless the CCTV is crystal clear, and the alleged thief admits it or there is a witness.

My bike was stolen, the police were given crystal clear HD CCTV. The CPS lost the evidence and didn't request more copies! Thankfully the thief was still prosecuted for more crimes and with other evidence.

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