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 Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on
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good observations...
h' $550 said:Fox32 and now WGN are now all over the "Sucker Pole" story.
Kevin's take: They're a small percentage of overall bike thefts, with unlocked and cable locked bikes still being the majority.
Howard's take: I don't use the term "sucker pole" because it implies that you're OK if a bolt is present (maybe, maybe not) and also because we have a huge bike parking shortage in this city and often no better choice is available.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on
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Are there really "bike theft gangs?" Is there a connection between the habitual thieves and the established Chicago gangs?
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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on
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Howard's take: Yes.
Kevin's take: No.
Kelvin Mulcky said:Are there really "bike theft gangs?" Is there a connection between the habitual thieves and the established Chicago gangs?
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Permalink Reply by Duppie on
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I don't use the term "sucker poles" because it implies that you deserved it that your bike got stolen. No one deserves their bike stolen.
h' $550 said:[...]I don't use the term "sucker pole" because it implies that you're OK if a bolt is present (maybe, maybe not) and also because we have a huge bike parking shortage in this city and often no better choice is available.
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Permalink Reply by El Dorado on
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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 Davo on
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Ive never understood why some people only lock their frames to objects. At bare minimum grab a wheel with it.
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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 Josh L. on
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Please give me evidence of this. There are at least 500 bikes parked in the loop every day and I rarely - if ever - here of a u lock being cut. If this was true there would be many locks cut every day, which I know there are not.
I do know of one guy who had a $2,500 bike and that lock got cut on Michigan avenue. Very expensive bikes will be stolen, u lock or not.
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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and as we discussed when you posted this previously, many of these ulock thefts may be due to improperly locked bikes. Cutting of ulocks is very, very rare.Locking your bike with a u lock in the loop is very safe for your bike. Please don't discourage more biking..that's what your fear mongering does (directed to the previous poster!).
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 Mike Zumwalt on
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Old news but still who really checks? Look down and if it has a washer pounded in to wedge the pole it's relatively safe. I see the newer poles with the bolt sticking out slightly and then being bent so it can't be removed.
Also that lock job is crappy unless you can see your bike at all times. I see that big u-lock dangling and a small jack can "pop" it aaprt, I see cable locks around the old parking meters which can be lifted over. My favorites are the u-lock around a sapling, poor trees get cut and the entire bike is gone.
After many parts, rims etc... stolen I Double lock the rear to the frame then to a post, the front wheel to the frame.
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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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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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