Bait Bikes: Clever Theft-Deterrent or Entrapment?

Hey Ya'll,

Searched the forum and didn't find this one posted (sorry if it was and I missed it):

http://www.good.is/post/bait-bikes-clever-theft-deterrent-or-entrap...

An interesting idea.  I take the legal notion of entrapment pretty seriously as a social justice issue, and don't support this strategy as a widespread tactic.  But it does seem to hold some promise for the biking community in cases where there are clear patterns of bike theft.  When my bike was stolen a couple of months ago, the method, neighborhood, and time of day all fit similar thefts over the past several months.  Plus, the GPS system described in the article has led to unearthing warehouses of stolen bikes. 

But authorities baiting the desperate, and often those most impacted by socioeconomic inequality, is a very slippery slope indeed.  What do you think?

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Permalink Reply by Joel on July 8, 2010 at 3:11pm
It is only entrapment if they encourage you to commit the crime. Leaving a bike out to be stolen is not entrapment, and I support their efforts to curb bike theft.
Permalink Reply by Martin Hazard on July 8, 2010 at 3:56pm
I think an unlocked bike can reasonably be assumed to be abandoned in Chicago. I still wouldn't take it, but the owner should not be shocked if it wanders off. I think an unlocked bike borders on entrapment, but a locked bike, even poorly so, that is taken is theft. In the wild west they hung horse thieves. Just saying.
Permalink Reply by S on July 8, 2010 at 4:19pm
Martin Hazard said:
In the wild west they hung horse thieves. Just saying.

For reasons, a lot of people here would agree with. If someone is going to steal your main means of transportation and possibly even your means of making a living, they deserve to get smacked hard.

I don't see anything wrong with the bait bikes, even if the unlocked ones are borderline. However, the sob story from the college kid about how he was drunk and thought he could borrow the unlocked bike for a ride from the pub doesn't get any sympathy.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 8, 2010 at 4:41pm
This:

Joel said:
It is only entrapment if they encourage you to commit the crime. Leaving a bike out to be stolen is not entrapment, and I support their efforts to curb bike theft.
Permalink Reply by Chuck a Muck on July 8, 2010 at 4:49pm
Leaving the bike unlocked to me stinks of entrapment. Leaving a bike with any kind of cable lock is not, since when ya read the stolen reg. its mostly cable locked bikes that get jacked...

Permalink Reply by Dr. Doom on July 8, 2010 at 4:57pm
I think that people steal bikes because they lack a moral compass, not because they've been 'impacted by socioeconomic inequality.'

I don't think that it's really stealing to take an unlocked and unattended bike in a city like Chicago.
Permalink Reply by Kohaku on July 8, 2010 at 5:18pm
You are part of the problem. I've lost coats and umbrellas in restaurants by people with your mentality.

Dr. Doom said:
I don't think that it's really stealing to take an unlocked and unattended bike in a city like Chicago.
Permalink Reply by heather s on July 8, 2010 at 5:21pm
people certainly do steal things because of their socioeconomic problems. nonetheless, as notoriousDUG and Joel pointed out, it's not entrapment unless you encourage theft. And frankly, you'd have to be pretty daft to grab a bike that doesn't belong to you without waiting a bit for its owner to appear.

the "slippery slope" is a silly argument and a logical fallacy to boot. what is this supposed slope going to slip down towards?
Permalink Reply by Ben on July 8, 2010 at 5:58pm
To HS: It's going to slip to John Burge, and the cops who accosted cyclists at Taste, and the profiling of young people of color in Chicago.

I fully support a snazzy bike, locked with a second-tier lock, in an area that that the CPD have targeted in partnership with the ATA, in an established pattern of bike crime.



heather stratton said:
people certainly do steal things because of their socioeconomic problems. nonetheless, as notoriousDUG and Joel pointed out, it's not entrapment unless you encourage theft. And frankly, you'd have to be pretty daft to grab a bike that doesn't belong to you without waiting a bit for its owner to appear.

the "slippery slope" is a silly argument and a logical fallacy to boot. what is this supposed slope going to slip down towards?
Permalink Reply by spacemodular on July 8, 2010 at 6:09pm
Another column on the same subject:

http://http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/jun/30...


Personally - I feel stealing bikes should be taken more seriously. Whether the theft is casual or organized doesn't matter. Theft is a criminal activity that should be prosecuted.

I feel that Bike theft keeps many people from riding bikes for the long term. They quit riding because they have no bike and feel it is a waste of money to invest in something that will just be stolen again.
Permalink Reply by XV on July 8, 2010 at 6:21pm
Who's up for a chainlink bait bike? Think we can get the cops to come in time?..er ha forget that
Permalink Reply by Dr. Doom on July 9, 2010 at 1:49am
You are part of the problem. I've lost coats and umbrellas in restaurants by people with your mentality.

What are you talking about? How is stealing something in a restaurant comparable to taking untended property on a public street? If my neighbor sets out a snazzy hi-fi setup on the curb and I take it, am I stealing? I've lived in large cities my whole life and there's always been a social consensus that legitimately untended property is up for grabs. I'd include bikes in that, anyone who doesn't like it is free to move to a cow town where you can leave your bike outside all day without anyone touching it.

people certainly do steal things because of their socioeconomic problems

'Person of low SES' is usually a euphemism for 'poor black person' or 'poor Latino person.' People may steal because they're poor (they usually don't, but maybe it happens), but not because they're black. My real objection here is to the use of the jargon word 'socioeconomic.'

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