Cycle Security & Theft and Survey

PROTECT YOUR BIKE

Use a good lock. Lock both wheels and the frame. This may require 2 locks or a lock and a strong cable. Do not leave space inside D-lock where a lever can be inserted. Lock so that the bike itself cannot be lifted and twisted to break D-lock.

Use best locks you can afford. Lock it to something that is secure and cannot easily be cut through, unbolted. A good list of recommended locks:
http://www.lfgss.com/thread17938.html

Note that some bikes can be disassembled to remove from lock. Make your bike very distinctive and unattractive.

If your bike has been disabled by having a wheel removed or another lock added in a crowded place a thief may come back when quieter to remove.

Record the framenumber, and details, and take a photo of your bike.

Register your bike on www.immobilise.com

Mark your bike with postcode and house number details. We have labels for this.

LCC advice on cycle security "Lock it or Lose it"

AND WHEN THIS FAILS AND YOUR BIKE IS GONE

Click here to report online to the Metropolitan Police

Go to http://bikeshd.co.uk , which lists all bikes that have been put up for sale on gumtree and ebay. If you see it contact the police immediately.

BACKGROUND

Reducing the theft of pedal cycles is a crime and disorder reduction indicator that the Hammersmith & Fulham Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership report on to the Home Office. In the Crime & Disorder Reduction Strategy 2005-08, the partnership has set a target of reducing pedal cycle theft by 15% by 2005/06 and a further 15% each year to 2008. We are co-operating with this endeavour.

Cycle theft in LBHF discussed at our meeting here: http://www.hfcyclists.org.uk/metOct05.htm

[The British Crime Survey thinks only 44% of cycle thefts are reported.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/crimeew0405.html
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb1105.pdf at p58

And in Islington
There has been a 120 per cent increase in recording of 'pedal cycle theft' going from 757 in 2001/02 to 1,669 in 2003/04.
http://www.islington.gov.uk/pdf/communitysafety/icdyp_audit_2004.pdf]

SURVEY

HFCYCLISTS survey on cycle theft. 17 - 31 October 2005

This survey was carried out using www.surveymonkey.com. A message asking for responses was sent out to our hfcyclists and hfcyclistsannounce email lists.

The survey may be biased / skewed because:
The population surveyed were members of our email group, and
the people answering selected themselves. 46 out of something over 250 members.
A fairer survey would be done randomly on all cyclists, or better on people who had cycles, even though they are not out on them.

The written responses are given at the end. One response has been slightly edited.

The Total number of Respondents was 46

Responses are Displayed as
QUESTION
Followed by for each option
Percent Response / number of responses for that option.

*******QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR PRESENT BIKE*******

1 IS YOU PRESENT BIKE INSURED AGAINST THEFT?

yes, by dedicated bike insurance
8.9% 4
yes, covered by household insurance, or similar
40% 18
no
51.1% 23
(skipped this question) 1


2. HAVE YOU A RECORD OF THE FRAME-NUMBER OF THE BIKE, AND IS IT RECORDED ON ANY DATABASE - WWW.IMMOBILISE.COM IS RECOMMENDED BY POLICE.

no record of frame-number
48.9% 22
I know frame-number, but not on any database
37.8% 17
I know frame-number, and recorded on some database.
13.3% 6
Total Respondents 45
(skipped this question) 1

3. IS YOU BIKE MARKED WITH POSTCODE OR SIMILAR SO THAT YOU COULD BE IDENTIFIED AND BIKE POSSIBLY RETURNED TO YOU?

yes
22.2% 10
no
77.8% 35
(skipped this question) 1


4. IF YOUR PRESENT BIKE WAS STOLEN WOULD YOU REPORT IT TO THE POLICE?

yes
86.7% 39
no
13.3% 6

(skipped this question) 1


5. WHERE DO YOU USUALLY LEAVE YOUR BIKE AT NIGHT


on the street
6.7% 3
outside, but not on street
24.4% 11
in communal space in flats
11.1% 5
inside locked flat / space
53.3% 24
other
4.4% 2
(skipped this question) 1

********* HAVE YOU SUFFERED CYCLE THEFT? ********


6. HAVE YOU HAD A BIKE STOLEN IN THE LAST 2 YEARS? [IF STOLEN IN THE LAST YEAR, OR MORE THAN ONE STOLEN, PLEASE ADD COMMENT IN ANSWER 10]

yes, insured, and I reported it to police
15.9% 7
yes, insured, and I did not report to police
2.3% 1
yes, uninsured, and I reported to police
6.8% 3
yes, uninsured and I did not report to police
4.5% 2
no
70.5% 31
(skipped this question) 2

7. HAVE YOU HAD A WHEEL OR SADDLE STOLEN IN LAST 2 YEARS, APART FROM AS ABOVE?

yes
13.6% 6
no
86.4% 38
(skipped this question) 2

8. PLEASE GIVE: MAKE/ TYPE/ VALUE OF BIKE STOLEN APPROX DATE STOLEN APPROX TIME DAY/ OVERNIGHT FROM WHICH STREET LOCATION FROM HOME, WHILST SHOPPING OUT ETC TECNIQUE USED

Total Respondents 15
(skipped this question) 31
Detailed responses below.

9. ARE YOU A MEMBER OF LCC, CTC [SO THIS SURVEY CAN BE COMPARED WITH ANY SURVEYS DONE BY THOSE ORGANISATIONS ON JUST THEIR MEMBERS, AND SEEING IF ANY DIFFERENCES SHOW UP.]


lcc
32.6% 14
ctc
0% 0
lcc and ctc
9.3% 4
neither
58.1% 25
(skipped this question) 3

10. ANY COMMENTS ON VULNERABLE PLACES, WHETHER A STOLEN BIKE RETURNED TO YOU, COMMENTS ON REPORTING TO POLICE, ETC. DO YOU LIVE / WORK IN LBHF. ANYTHING ELSE. GIVE YOUR NAME IF YOU WISH.

Total Respondents 25
(skipped this question) 21
Detailed responses below.

***************
Q8 Detailed responses

PLEASE GIVE: MAKE/ TYPE/ VALUE OF BIKE STOLEN APPROX DATE STOLEN APPROX TIME DAY/ OVERNIGHT FROM WHICH STREET LOCATION FROM HOME, WHILST SHOPPING OUT ETC TECNIQUE USED

raleigh BoB about £800 about 2 yrs ago at 5pm from grounds of Hogarth health Club Airedale Ave W4 whilst I was using club recorded on CCTV

Trek/ some sort of HyBrid/ £300+ (?) May '04 Between 20.00 - 23.30 From bike racks at Barons Court Tube Station Lock picking V.HVY Chain/Padlock

1) Giant Mountain Bike, £400, stolen while lockked at the space outside the front of my house. May 2002 2) Giant Mounain Bike, £400, stolen by a gang while my son was riding home from school in hammersmith. June 2004 3) Holdsworth road bike, £200, stolen while looked at place of work (UCL). October 2001

Cannondale Scalpel 800 2003, £1300. Stolen approx 30 June 2004, overnight from inside my vehicle, which was in a "secure" underground car park, belonging to the flat complex where I live. I believe the thieves gained access to the car park with a false or stolen swipe car. They then smashed the rear window of my vehicle to take the bike.

Barracuda - Tifosi £320 20-9-05 7-8pm Olympia train station Kensington London whilst shopping Abus lock was cut probably using bolt cutters

Wife's bike stolen from railings outside her school in Cromwell Rd, and was locked. My bike was stolen from Bicycle hoops while popping into a Covent Garden shop, as I was only gone 5 mins I used a lightweight cable which was cut through quickly with bolt cutters, by obviously organised gang. There appears to be a 'campaign' of thefts in early autumn to sell to studuents ?

Trek Navigator T30 value £250 June 26 about 6pm North End Road whilst in Barons' Court library

n/a

Schwinn MTB, £1000, Stolen 06/2004, afternoon from back garden, covered by contents insurance, reported to police.

trek (?) Supernova, stolen from council bike parks behind debenhams on Oxford street between 6:30 and 7:30pm. Entire bike and lock gone.

make/ type/ value of bike stolen - Probike Voyager £150 approx date stolen - June 2005 approx time day/ overnight - overnight from which street location - W4 Chiswick from home, whilst shopping out etc - from home tecnique used - unknown - bolt cutters ?

make: Can't remember type: Mountain value of bike stolen: £100ish date: Last few days of November 2003 time: 16:30ish location: By the river on the Hammersmith side of Fulham Football ground, before you turn left onto stevanage road On my way home tecnique used: 4 boys (recognised one from when he tried to nick a footie off me in bishops park once, not that the police cared) Came up and made as if to get on so i just got off, not wanting to cause any trouble.

wheel, March 2005, daytime, from home in augustine rd while in!, quick release wheel

Padlocked to railings outside place of work (there's no provision for the many cyclists)

Peugeot County stolen from Hammersmith tube station. Saddle stolen from Kensington Church Street

*********
Q10 Detailed responses

ANY COMMENTS ON VULNERABLE PLACES, WHETHER A STOLEN BIKE RETURNED TO YOU, COMMENTS ON REPORTING TO POLICE, ETC. DO YOU LIVE / WORK IN LBHF. ANYTHING ELSE. GIVE YOUR NAME IF YOU WISH.

apparently there have bveen a lot of bike thefts in Putney - a friend had his mountain bike stolen from outside Halfords - it was locked, and he was only gone for 15 minutes.

I live and work in H&F and cycle to work everyday leaving my bike locked in a rail on the King Street. I have been told that it is not safe but I have not other place at work to leave it.

Live + work in LBHF. Mo Morgan

I have some work in LBHF. I live in Brent (and most work in Brent).

I have reported all these to the place. Including a 4th attempted theft from oustide a shop in Dawes Road. Reporting these thefts to the place takes is a very slow and painful process. I live and work in LBHF.

I've had the bolts stolen which attach the frame to the back wheel, and the back light stolen. I've previously had two bikes stolen, one in Norwich and one in Germany, though admittedly they weren't very well locked up. I think a lot more people would have bikes if they had somewhere secure and dry to keep them - there's often not enough room in people's flats.

I've not had my bike stolen for about 4 years, because I have top quality Abbas D lock, one fixed front wheel and I incorporate the back wheel into the lock up. I am also very particular about the immovability of whatever I tie the bike up to. About 18 months ago, when I was working in Shepherds Bush, I and scores of other people witnessed a women's oldish bike locked up to the bike racks by the Central Line station being ruthlessly stripped by a group of young boys (ages ranging from 8 to 14)while more of their gang kept watch. They were oblivious of the throngs of people walking by (it was lunchtime). I must say, I wasn't brave enough to go up to them as their numbers were too intimidating! In the past 20+ years, my family and I would have had about 7 or 8 bikes stolen between the 4 of us. I think we only reported about 2 of these thefts to the police, because the lack of interest or help from them was so obvious and evident that we felt it all proved an absolute waste of time. About 6 months ago my partner spotted a young lad in Hyde Park riding his ancient Saracen that had gone missing from outside our home the night before. He took off, running about 50 mph, screaming after the boy. The terrified boy got off his bike and, following an interrogation from my partner, he revealed he had bought it off 'some boys' whom he'd never seen before. Well, my partner got his bike back, but the poor lad was left with empty hands and empty pockets. Over the past couple of years we have occasionally spotted lurking groups of 2 or 3 young boys darting in and out of the cars below (we live on the 2nd floor), and prodding away at people's bikes. My partner (who grew up around here) has the best solution that will guarantee a non-return: loud shout, very nasty, sharp tongue - reels of it - nothing compromising! We watch them run and rarely do we see them return.

I believe I have seen 2 bike thefts from Putney Bridge tube station bike park, underneath the rail bridge arches, both have been reported to the police, I'm not sure what if any surveillance has been introduced! If there have been many thefts from here it could be a good place for a sting operation? Regards Jon Smith

live and work in LBHF. John Smits eekzoids@hotmail.com

I am on your mailing list and the main comment is that discussions seem to concentrate soley on Shepherds Bush & Hammersmith areas. How about the cycle route east-west to Central London

Work in LBHF

Didn't think police would be interested in bicycle theft. How do I find frame number and get on database?

Second bike stolen in Sept 2005, outside Hammersmith/Fulham hospital. Specalized, £500, not covered by contents insurance, reported to police.

Live on Edward Woods Estate in LBHF. Flatmate had bike vandalised outside our block of flats (locked with 2 D-locks to a Sheffield stand, but they just cut the brake cables!) TWICE, so I keep mine inside the block chained to railings on a walkway - although officially we are not supposed to block the walkway or chain anything up... I asked LBHF if they would consider putting in some bike stands in our communal (secured-access) garden, but had no response.

above incident - 2 bikes were stolen at the same time previously in 2002 & 2003 had bikes stolen - from stands outside Hammersmith Town Hall (pre-locked cage)

I keep my bike in my flat, or inside the building at work, so it is secure most of the time. Everyone else I know in Shepherd's bush who has had to leave their bike outside at night has had parts of it stolen. I live in LBHF and work in Farringdon.

Bike stolen five yr ago outside what is now Primark. reported to police. Live in LBHF. use bike nearly every day for local trips. I've asked Hammersmith police re marking bikes, they appear not to do it any more. They used to do it at our local fair.

Live in LBHF, work near Russell Sq. Commute to work and generally leave bike locked at work cycle racks, restricted access. Often leave bike locked on street in Central London, Notting Hill, Hammersmith & Shep Bush, evenings and weekends (eg while at cinema, shopping, etc).

Recognised one of the people stealing it and knew his school (because he'd once tried to take a football off me in Bishops Park with his school uniform on) but the police just thought i was looking to blame that school. Police weren't very helpful. Never got it back

Had a shed for keeping the bike in but Council forced us to take it down as it was not 'in keeping' with the street (although there are many others in the vicinity). When I reported theft of wheel back to the the officers responsible there was of course a total silence.

Since I bougt my bike in May I have had my saddle stolen from outside Victoria station, my lights stolen from Eversholt St (Euston), my second saddle stolen from the road that runs down the side of the Porchester Centre (Paddington), and an attempt was also made to steal my bike from Eversholt St, Euston (they destroyed the lock but didn't manage to break the cable, however I then had to cut the cable myself in order to unchain the bike). My bike cost me approx. £170 all in, and it has since cost me a little over £100 and a whole lot of inconvenience to deal with the fallout of minor theft.

I live in LBHF and work in and around Westminster - Pimlico in south and Queens Park in north. I don't usually have too much trouble finding somewhere to secure my bike but there are times when it hasn't been as secure as I would like because I've had to lock it to a sign, there being nothing else available.

Cycle parking is "safest" when it's most conspicuous; too much cycle parking is hidden away. I prefer road-side railings to virtually anything the council provides. I've had two bikes stolen in London in 18 years; I only reported them for the insurance. I've never heard of ANYONE getting theirs back! I've seen people cruising bike parking looking for the valuable ones but who do you tell? The police will behave as if you're wasting their time. I live and work (50% of the time) in LBH&F.

Police thougth the bike was stolen by a car thief to look for cars!

live in lbhf

*************
END

John Griffiths
[chair / co-ordinator hfcyclists]
122c Edith rd
W14 9AP
020 7371 1290 / 07789 095 748
john@truefeelings.com