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Metropolitan Police get proactive on stolen bikes

Suspects arrested and 10 bikes recovered

The Metropolitan Police could probably do with some PR help from a journalist right now, no, hang on…anyway, they have good news to report about the recovery of some stolen bikes which we are happy to pass on.

In a press statement they say that two investigations by the Metropolitan Police Service Safer Transport Command’s Cycle Task Force have led to the recovery of 10 bikes that are believed to be stolen.

On Tuesday 12 July officers from the Cycle Task Force, which is funded by Transport for London (TfL), carried out a search warrant at an address in Porchester Road, Queensway W2 after a decoy bike was stolen near to Trafalgar Square the day before.

Officers searched the property and found the stolen decoy bike, along with a laptop and four other bikes, all believed to be stolen.

Two of the bikes, a £600 Trek and a £950 Brompton, were confirmed as stolen and have been returned to their rightful owners. The Brompton was returned to the owner within 24 hours of it being stolen.

An 18 year-old man and a 43 year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of burglary, theft and handling stolen goods and bailed to return to police in August.

On Thursday 14 July the Cycle Task Force carried out a search warrant at an address in Ealing, in connection with an investigation into a stolen Genesis bike being sold online. The bike was reported stolen from Tower Hamlets on 6 July.

During the search, officers found five bikes, all believed to be stolen, including the Genesis bike. Enquiries to identify victims are ongoing. A 36 year old man was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen goods and bailed to return in September.

Cycle Task Force Sergeant Jim Morris, said: "Three bikes have been reunited with their rightful owners and a further six bikes, believed to be stolen, have been recovered following successful Cycle Task Force investigations.

"We are committed to tackling cycle theft across London and will continue to help cyclists, through both education and enforcement, by catching bike thieves, security marking bicycles and reuniting people with heir stolen bikes."

"We advise any cyclist to follow 'the three R's' - record the details of their bike, register them onto online property databases and report any theft to the police. These are simple steps that all cyclists should take so that if their bike is stolen they stand a good chance of being reunited with it."

"If you are a victim of bike theft and you suspect your bike is being sold, do not arrange to meet the seller, contact the police, quoting your crime reference number."

Siwan Hayward, Deputy Director of Community Safety Enforcement and Policing at TfL, said: "The quick recovery of these bikes is testament to the hard work of the Cycle Task Force, who have had a real impact on cycle thefts in London. As the Mayor’s cycling revolution continues to put more cyclists on the Capital’s streets we will continue to work with the Metropolitan Police Service to minimise thefts and help make cycling safer and more secure."
 

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6 comments

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londonplayer | 12 years ago
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Farrell - my understanding is that around 23,000 bikes are reported stolen every year in London. The true figure is probably much higher.

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OldRidgeback | 12 years ago
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Deploying a decoy bike and waiting to see what toe-rag comes along and tries to nick it must be money for old rope. There are cycle theft hot-spots and certain bikes are particularly hot targets. it doesn't take much to figure out what decoy bikes to place where. but good on the cops for working this out and actually doing something about it for once. my experience of the police dealing with cycle theft was somewhat less satisfactory.

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JonD | 12 years ago
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To be fair it's not the first time they've recovered a decent amount - from a brief search, another here:
http://content.met.police.uk/News/Bike-thieves-targeted/1260268323368/12...

Seems it was setup last year:
http://content.met.police.uk/News/New-Police-Cycle-Task-Force/1260267462...

"Since its launch in June this year, the MPS Cycle Task Force has already cycle security marked over 10,000 bikes and made over 100 arrests."

(written sometime late in 2010 I'd guess since the item's dated feb 2011)

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farrell | 12 years ago
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I dont want to kick anyone when they are seemingly down but from what appears to be a pretty big effort they have managed to recover 10 bikes?

Does anybody have figures to hand of the number of bikes actually reported stolen in London?

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djcritchley | 12 years ago
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10 bikes; it's a start.

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2Loose | 12 years ago
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"We advise any cyclist to follow 'the three R's' - record the details of their bike, register them onto online property databases and report any theft to the police. These are simple steps that all cyclists should take so that if their bike is stolen they stand a good chance of being reunited with it."

Having done all of the above for the last 2 bikes stolen from me with no result, I think 'a good chance' is overstating it a bit.

However, nice to see the police targetting these crimes with good results.

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