Bike Theft Gangs Using 'Sucker Poles' to Steal Bikes Across the City (DNA Info)
Yesterday's article with mentions to Bike Index, Stolen Bike Registry, The Bike Lane and The Chainlink...
Kudos especially to Kevin C and Howard and others for all their hard work fighting thefts.
Bike Theft Gangs Using 'Sucker Poles' to Steal Bikes Across the City
By Paul Biasco on November 11, 2013 8:10am | Updated on November 11, 2013 8:10am
@Paul_Biasco
LINCOLN PARK — On a sunny Wednesday morning as moms, kids and workers walked along Halsted Street, a bike thief worked in plain sight.
It was as easy as lifting a tow zone sign right out of its base, slipping the U-lock off the metal pole and riding off with the lock still attached to the frame of the bike.
Couldn't have been more than 10 seconds.
"He had the pole in his hand when I saw him, and he had it up in the air," said Kathy McInerney, a 24-year-old Lincoln Park resident. "He threw it back down into the [base], and he just hopped right on [the bike and went] down Lill." Read the rest here.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on
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+1
And as I have pointed out before, there is no need for thieves to "up their game" when Chicago has such a large supply of easy targets in the form of unlocked and poorly locked bikes.
jolondon30 said:
It doesn't matter. There just aren't a lot of professional bike thieves any more. Someone in Seattle wrote an article recently - I can't find it - talking about how rough the economics of bike theft are.Stores wont' buy used bikes so your avenues are selling on the street, that outdoor "Market", and selling on craigslist. People know to check Craigslist for their bikes so thieves have to wait a while.There are a few groups of prof. bike thieves - like those guys who got caught up in Evanston or the ones who hit the Clybourn station - who have vans and storage places for the bikes. But these guys are far and few between. Because of the relatively poor economics, that leaves low level thieves, addicts and street people who will cut cables and grab unlocked bikes for $100. With an angle cutter - as cheap and easy as it seems to you - the potential $ is not worth the risk to thieves of getting caught. You would have a hard time explaining to anybody why you had an angle cutter. If it was attractive you would see guys using them every day..and you do not.
El Dorado said:
Home depot sells angle grinders starting at like $50 bucks. Denial is not just a river in Egypt. I feel many of you riders are underestimating the professional bike thieves. I would guess only about 10% are real pros.
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Permalink Reply by Wolf-Pup on
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I love when you bring out the facts and statistics. Seriously. I'm a huge fan.
Kevin C said:You have said on more than one occasion that Chicago is the bike theft capital of the US. Cite please?
Team of bike thieves riding the loop in vans with no windows angle grinding locks... Cite please?
A comparatively small percentage of theft reports to the CSBR (<5%) are of bike locks which have been defeated by angle grinders. It certainly doesn't mean that can't be accomplished (and quickly), but our data just doesn't bear that out. The CSBR data indicates that 25% of reported thefts are of unlocked bikes. Another 35% of reported thefts are of bikes locked only with a cable lock. Is this more of a problem with well-equipped, methodical bike thieves or more of a problem with bike owners who fail to take adequate (or even minimal) precautions to keep their property safe?
El Dorado said:There are team of bike thieves that ride the loop in dark work vans with no windows. They will pull out the angle grinder and saw away the best locks in minutes. Chicago is the bike theft capital of the US. We need better locks, more police, better locking strategies ect... Enough is enough. Lets stop this.
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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on
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+1 but add some kind of general insult in.
jolondon30 said:
It doesn't matter. There just aren't a lot of professional bike thieves any more. Someone in Seattle wrote an article recently - I can't find it - talking about how rough the economics of bike theft are.Stores wont' buy used bikes so your avenues are selling on the street, that outdoor "Market", and selling on craigslist. People know to check Craigslist for their bikes so thieves have to wait a while.There are a few groups of prof. bike thieves - like those guys who got caught up in Evanston or the ones who hit the Clybourn station - who have vans and storage places for the bikes. But these guys are far and few between. Because of the relatively poor economics, that leaves low level thieves, addicts and street people who will cut cables and grab unlocked bikes for $100. With an angle cutter - as cheap and easy as it seems to you - the potential $ is not worth the risk to thieves of getting caught. You would have a hard time explaining to anybody why you had an angle cutter. If it was attractive you would see guys using them every day..and you do not.
El Dorado said:
Home depot sells angle grinders starting at like $50 bucks. Denial is not just a river in Egypt. I feel many of you riders are underestimating the professional bike thieves. I would guess only about 10% are real pros.
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Permalink Reply by Josh L. on
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I thought about it - something about critical reasoning skills - but decided against it
Now I am waiting for the post stating that a friend of a friend of my cousin had his $10 bike stolen in front of the security guy at Sears Tower with five u locks on it. As if the exception proves the rule.
I would hate to see people stop commuting because of this fear mongering. If you leave a non expensive (<$1k) bike in a decenty trafficked area of Chicago during daytime hours and lock it well with a u lock your chances of getting the bike stolen are very, very low.
notoriousDUG said:+1 but add some kind of general insult in.
jolondon30 said:
It doesn't matter. There just aren't a lot of professional bike thieves any more. Someone in Seattle wrote an article recently - I can't find it - talking about how rough the economics of bike theft are.Stores wont' buy used bikes so your avenues are selling on the street, that outdoor "Market", and selling on craigslist. People know to check Craigslist for their bikes so thieves have to wait a while.There are a few groups of prof. bike thieves - like those guys who got caught up in Evanston or the ones who hit the Clybourn station - who have vans and storage places for the bikes. But these guys are far and few between. Because of the relatively poor economics, that leaves low level thieves, addicts and street people who will cut cables and grab unlocked bikes for $100. With an angle cutter - as cheap and easy as it seems to you - the potential $ is not worth the risk to thieves of getting caught. You would have a hard time explaining to anybody why you had an angle cutter. If it was attractive you would see guys using them every day..and you do not.
El Dorado said:
Home depot sells angle grinders starting at like $50 bucks. Denial is not just a river in Egypt. I feel many of you riders are underestimating the professional bike thieves. I would guess only about 10% are real pros.
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You must have been in a hurry. ;-)
notoriousDUG said:+1 but add some kind of general insult in.
jolondon30 said:
It doesn't matter. [snip]
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Permalink Reply by Matthew [cannonball] Franzen on
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Never lock to pole! Poles to me are like garlic to vampires, I never trust them unless I'm in and out. Ps... Chicago may not be the number one for bike theft (NY) but is at the top. Kryptonite's rank Chicago as the 3rd worst city for bicycle theft behind NY and San Francisco. This was compiled by using their records as well as dealer interviews and police statistical studies.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-07-25/news/0607250311_1_bik...
and you bet your ass there are gangs of bicycle thiefs. A good chunk of them know eachother becuase they are in the same bussiness. This is a great article about how bicycle thiefs remove your lock and indirectly talks about how they know eachother and work together.
http://www.tested.com/tech/458286-best-bike-lock-today/
Whether or not there are a lot of professional thiefs now or in the past is hypothetical, but selling a stolen bike on craigslist, pawn shops, or sketchy used places like Shining Bikes & Things in lincoln square is easy. I know for a fact that people have reovered stolen bikes from here. A lot of times they are also torn down and sold for parts. It's not that hard to sell a stolen bike. i have a collection of beautiful bikes. I am a bike mechanic, fabricator, and worked at working bikes and the recyclery. So I have researched this subject well.
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The article you reference is from 2006 and reports on a bike being stolen that had a cable lock.Bikes are sufficiently hard to sell that they aren't very attractive to target except for those types of thieves I noted in my post. Bikes that aren't locked or aren't locked well (cables, sucker poles, to wheel only) will get stolen. Bikes that locked with a U Lock and subject to the caveats I listed - are rarely stolen for the reasons I described.
Matthew [cannonball] Franzen said:
Never lock to pole! Poles to me are like garlic to vampires, I never trust them unless I'm in and out. Ps... Chicago may not be the number one for bike theft (NY) but is at the top. Kryptonite's rank Chicago as the 3rd worst city for bicycle theft behind NY and San Francisco. This was compiled by using their records as well as dealer interviews and police statistical studies.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-07-25/news/0607250311_1_bik...
and you bet your ass there are gangs of bicycle thiefs. A good chunk of them know eachother becuase they are in the same bussiness. This is a great article about how bicycle thiefs remove your lock and indirectly talks about how they know eachother and work together.
http://www.tested.com/tech/458286-best-bike-lock-today/
Whether or not there are a lot of professional thiefs now or in the past is hypothetical, but selling a stolen bike on craigslist, pawn shops, or sketchy used places like Shining Bikes & Things in lincoln square is easy. I know for a fact that people have reovered stolen bikes from here. A lot of times they are also torn down and sold for parts. It's not that hard to sell a stolen bike. i have a collection of beautiful bikes. I am a bike mechanic, fabricator, and worked at working bikes and the recyclery. So I have researched this subject well.
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By the way the references you have offered validate my point. That bike store you mentioned, per Yelp, is now under new management and the reviews mention stolen bikes brought in by "kids." So selling stolen bikes seems to not be a great business model and there is no mention of high quality bikes found there.Second, the article you link to states that " Indeed, just the sight of a properly used u-lock is usually enough to deter thieves, sending them down the street where they’ll find an equally-nice bike locked with nothing but a chintzy cable, or a bike with a wheel that’s not secured, or a bike locked to a piece of scaffolding that can be unbolted, etc. In the words of Brad Quartuccio, editor of Urban Velo magazine: “Locking technique is more important than how much you spend on a lock.”
The gist of this article, based on interviews with bike thieves, is that "But if you don’t, and you lock your bike correctly with a moderately strong u-lock, then your bike is virtually guaranteed to be safe."
Matthew [cannonball] Franzen said:Never lock to pole! Poles to me are like garlic to vampires, I never trust them unless I'm in and out. Ps... Chicago may not be the number one for bike theft (NY) but is at the top. Kryptonite's rank Chicago as the 3rd worst city for bicycle theft behind NY and San Francisco. This was compiled by using their records as well as dealer interviews and police statistical studies.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-07-25/news/0607250311_1_bik...
and you bet your ass there are gangs of bicycle thiefs. A good chunk of them know eachother becuase they are in the same bussiness. This is a great article about how bicycle thiefs remove your lock and indirectly talks about how they know eachother and work together.
http://www.tested.com/tech/458286-best-bike-lock-today/
Whether or not there are a lot of professional thiefs now or in the past is hypothetical, but selling a stolen bike on craigslist, pawn shops, or sketchy used places like Shining Bikes & Things in lincoln square is easy. I know for a fact that people have reovered stolen bikes from here. A lot of times they are also torn down and sold for parts. It's not that hard to sell a stolen bike. i have a collection of beautiful bikes. I am a bike mechanic, fabricator, and worked at working bikes and the recyclery. So I have researched this subject well.
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I'm just saying that a lot of bikes get stolen in Chicago, more than most places, and it's still at the top. Thus it is better to take a little extra step in security in the city. I just wanted to cite some examples because no one had linked any. While stealing bikes is not a lucrative business, what illegal activity is? Bikes are stolen and sold in Chicago every day, and it's best to lock your bike up, "with a U-lock" and lock your wheels to a rack, meter/more secure location. Not a pole. I know many people that have had their bike stolen, many with you locks. I agree that a U lock will prevent most thefts. However, when in doubt, just lock to something better than a pole If you are going to be there for an extended amount of time, especially if it's a bike that you care about or has some nice wheels. It's such a simple thing to do that will add so much more security. While it may not happen to everyone, it is always good to lock up your investment to the most secure object possible, especially in Chicago, and there is always a better place to lock your bike than a pole in Chicago. Just using a U lock in this city is not the key to preventing bike theft, but it prevents most. Dont underestimate the ability of your bike to get stolen in the city. Why risk it if you can just lock to a parking meter, bike rack, gas meter, or fence? If I am validating your point then I guess I agree. Yipee! I just wanted to pitch in because bike theft really sucks, and can be detrimental to someone who uses it as a major mode of transportation. A lot of people do in this city. If someone can walk away from this chat and prevent a theft by locking their bicycle more securely than thats all that matters. Good advice for the "Chicago bicycle community" being that we suffer from more bicycle theft than most places in the united states and the world being a world class city. [=
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Permalink Reply by Vilda on
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Sad about all the mentions of the facebook page where lil douchebags are posting stolen bikes. They are now openly mocking the attention and it will affect the number of posts. One fucker has all ready stopped posting all together. And for those reporting the facebook page- why? What purpose would that serve? All most as useless as that Beezodog turd burger.
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Permalink Reply by El Dorado on
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That, Hal Ruzal, NYC bike guy has a new video and cuts through the most common locks in his shop. The best are Kryptonite NYC U-locks which lock on both sides and require 2 cuts. He also recommends the heavy chains to deter theft.
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I think we are in agreement. I apologize for being admittedly too argumentative. I fully agree with you that people should take the time to lock to a proper installation, not a pole. And this article clarifies that. Frankly before somebody posted this I thought the sucker pole stuff was an urban myth. When I do lock to poles I look at the bolts and if they are rusted I assume they won't be messed with. But now, as you suggest, I'll avoid locking to poles.
Matthew [cannonball] Franzen said:I'm just saying that a lot of bikes get stolen in Chicago, more than most places, and it's still at the top. Thus it is better to take a little extra step in security in the city. I just wanted to cite some examples because no one had linked any. While stealing bikes is not a lucrative business, what illegal activity is? Bikes are stolen and sold in Chicago every day, and it's best to lock your bike up, "with a U-lock" and lock your wheels to a rack, meter/more secure location. Not a pole. I know many people that have had their bike stolen, many with you locks. I agree that a U lock will prevent most thefts. However, when in doubt, just lock to something better than a pole If you are going to be there for an extended amount of time, especially if it's a bike that you care about or has some nice wheels. It's such a simple thing to do that will add so much more security. While it may not happen to everyone, it is always good to lock up your investment to the most secure object possible, especially in Chicago, and there is always a better place to lock your bike than a pole in Chicago. Just using a U lock in this city is not the key to preventing bike theft, but it prevents most. Dont underestimate the ability of your bike to get stolen in the city. Why risk it if you can just lock to a parking meter, bike rack, gas meter, or fence? If I am validating your point then I guess I agree. Yipee! I just wanted to pitch in because bike theft really sucks, and can be detrimental to someone who uses it as a major mode of transportation. A lot of people do in this city. If someone can walk away from this chat and prevent a theft by locking their bicycle more securely than thats all that matters. Good advice for the "Chicago bicycle community" being that we suffer from more bicycle theft than most places in the united states and the world being a world class city. [=
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