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52 bikes stolen every day in London
05.12.07
Bicycles are being stolen in London at the rate of 52 a day.
But the number of thefts has fallen for the first time in five years. Figures show that 18,954 bikes were stolen in the capital in 2006/07, nearly a fifth of the 102,485 thefts nationwide.
In 2002/03, there were a total of 16,232 thefts in London, rising to 21,572 in 2005/06, when 105,778 went missing across Britain.
Islington recorded the highest number of thefts in London in 2006/07, with a total of 1,682, down from 1,821 in 2005/06. Second worst-hit was Wandsworth, where 1,357 bikes were stolen, up from 1,346 in the year before, followed by Camden with 1,329 thefts, down from 1,521.
The Government figures were released in answer to a Commons question posed by Tory MP and London mayoral candidate Boris Johnson.
Jenny Jones of the London Assembly Greens called for police to do more to combat bicycle theft, including wider use of "bait bikes" with a tracking system that can help trap organised gangs of thieves.
"With new bikes selling for an average of £400 a time, this is a lucrative trade for thieves," she said. "Cycling is good for the environment and great for people's health but the level of theft is creating a barrier to people keeping it up. The police really should be making more effort to recover stolen bikes."
| Recorded offences of theft of a pedal cycle 2002-03 to 2006-07 | ||
| 2002 - 03 | 2006 -07 | |
| Barking and Dagenham | 120 | 174 |
| Barnet | 218 | 247 |
| Bexley | 116 | 115 |
| Brent | 229 | 259 |
| Bromley | 179 | 212 |
| Camden | 1,347 | 1,329 |
| City of Westminster | 1,165 | 1,277 |
| Croydon | 240 | 264 |
| Ealing | 467 | 448 |
| Enfield | 186 | 179 |
| Greenwich | 249 | 395 |
| Hackney | 1,019 | 1,167 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 1,058 | 1,046 |
| Haringey | 247 | 392 |
| Harrow | 128 | 121 |
| Havering | 143 | 130 |
| Hillingdon | 264 | 247 |
| Hounslow | 405 | 569 |
| Islington | 1,140 | 1,682 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 834 | 758 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 387 | 479 |
| Lambeth | 785 | 1,022 |
| Lewisham | 270 | 362 |
| Merton | 360 | 320 |
| Newham | 323 | 275 |
| Redbridge | 122 | 168 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 559 | 739 |
| Southwark | 798 | 1,248 |
| Sutton | 188 | 232 |
| Tower Hamlets | 846 | 1,061 |
| Waltham Forest | 176 | 366 |
| Wandsworth | 1,237 | 1,357 |
| Total | 15,805 | 18,640 |
| Total London(1) | 16,232 | 18,954 |
| Total England | 91,589 | 102,485 |
(1) includes the City of London police and Metrolpolitan police service.
Note: The data in this table take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.
Reader views (6)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
There is no 'points' system for the British Police, its called a 'detection' rate, and against all common sense the Home Office has decided that Police funding should be directly linked to it. It means that a 'detection' for, say, cannabis possession counts as much as a detection for murder. If the Police were to take this system as seriously as some members of public like to believe, they would never investigate 'difficult' crimes such as rape, murder, burglary, which use up many hours of Police time per 'detection', but would spend all day stop/searching students. As they don't, I offer a vaguely more sensible explanation; its virtually impossible to solve a bike theft. Most theft convictions come from private CCTV, but few stores place cameras covering bike racks. Bike racks are publicly accessible, so fingerprinting would be pointless. Bike thieves work on being inconspicuous and fast, so witnesses are very rare. A sentence in this country for bike theft wouldn't be more than a couple of weeks (again, not something the Police have any control over!) and they'd be back out on the streets.
Police time is finite and increasingly stretched. Most bike theft reports don't even make it to officers because the call-taker will decide whether there are any open lines of enquiry (and there usually aren't). Rather than chasing 'easy' detections, Police Officers try to spend their time following lines of enquiry that might actually lead somewhere.
- David, London, UK
Advice from an experienced cyclist:
- don't leave bike out in public overnight
- get a lock costing £50+ (2 different locks even better - opportunist thieves usually only have one tool)
- lock both wheels and frame
- lock bike against sturdy railing at least as thick as lock (nb thieves can lift bike and lock over the top of some street posts)
- ensure lock is tight around bike and railing (thieves can use the bike itself to lever lock open)
In any case insure your bike (costs c.£50 per year). All this equals zero anxiety and a enjoyable (mostly), healthy, cheap and punctual way to travel!
- Jamie, London
I suspect this is a fraction of the true number.
Over and over I've encountered people who simply don't bother to report because they know the police will do nothing or, worse, they want nothing to do with the police. So I'd be pretty sure that the true figure is at least treble that reported and the apparent drop in thefts could be accounted for by creeping disillusionment.
When Kentish Town police ran an experiment with trackers in a honey-trap sting, bikes were stolen from outside the tube in hours but when the villains were arrested it cleared up other petty crime, proving it is worth pursuing.
The police need to be made to take it seriously and that might be the benefit from getting our Safer Neighbourhood police teams on bikes to see for themselves.
- Paul Braithwaite, Camden
Probably not enough 'points' for bike theft for the Police to bother...unless they can get an easy conviction they don't seem to care anymore.
- Mark, London, UK
I've given up any idea of biking, after seeing my own bike stolen, and a huge number of my friends having the same experience. In not one case did anything ever happen; not surprisingly, none of us ever heard from the police. Even bikes with 'tracker' devices were never seen again.
Basically, if you have a bike, it will get stolen, and I can't be bothered any more. Until they actually take this crime seriously, there's no point.
- Asns, Suffolk, UK
...we used bait bikes here and things changed after that.
- Danny, Victoria, Canada
