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Comment by beachy | Hacker News Reader

Bike theft seems like a problem that could be solved, or at least beaten down a lot. Super easy to attach tracking devices and monitor remotely, then just go around and arrest the thieves. There could hardly be an easier enforcement activity. Why is this not done when it seems like bike theft is at an epidemic level?

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I recently reported a bike theft to the police in the UK. A few days later I received an email from someone who "screens" incoming crimes. It said "I cannot send the matter for further investigation as the value of the item stolen falls below our threshold to investigate". They didn't even check if there was CCTV coverage in the area.

I'm guessing that the bike thieves in this area are well aware of the value of this threshold and operate accordingly.

It feels like I'm living in a Discworld novel where petty crime is "designed in" to society. There's a mutual unwritten agreement that the thieves can do what they like, as long as they stick to lower-value items. If you're too poor to afford a replacement, tough luck. Even my home contents insurance was pointless, as the excess was greater than the bike's value.

You'd think so, yes. In Scotland we have a similar problem with motorcycle theft. And lots of motorbikes have trackers on them. Anecdotally * , though, even providing the address that a stolen tracker is reporting isn't enough for the police to investigate. The thought seems to be that the police are simply chronically underfunded, so they're prioritising whatever their internal targets are - presumably violent crime incidents.

Obviously this will vary hugely by region and police force. Some of them probably would be happy having easy cases handed to them on a plate.

* Very anecdotally! I don't have any stats on this, and the anecdotes come from a fellow biker who is part of an anti motorbike theft campaign group, so take with the appropriate number of grains of salt.

Bike thieves can be quite professional and experienced, and are likely to figure out common placement points for trackers. Not to mention that they will try to offload the bike quickly anyway, so you have a limited window within which to catch them. And even if you do catch the thief, you'd likely need further evidence to achieve a conviction.

It's a frustrating problem.

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