I changed my mind-I blame the victim

I watched enough National Geographic films as a kid to know you never want to be the oldest or sickest antelope when the lionesses are hungry. Between May 26th and June 3rd, 39 bikes were reported to the Chicago Stolen Bike Registry.* Nine days at the rate of  4.3 per day. 59% of those bikes either weren’t locked, or were locked with some form of cable lock. Only 12 of those reported knew their serial number (less than a third).

 

Not necessary to convince me “if they really want to steal your bike, there’s nothing you can do…” Bike owners in Chicago aren’t even making it hard. Maybe we do have legions of highly skilled, professional bike thieves standing at the ready with cordless power tools, waiting to swoop down on properly locked bikes, but at this rate, we’ll never know. From a thief’s perspective, Chicago is, at worst, a bolt cutter kind of town.

 

If you don’t lock your bike and leave it in a common area that other people can access; if you lock your bike with some form of cable lock as your only security device; if you lock your bike to a fence or a sucker pole, you may not know it yet, but you are the slowest antelope in the herd. You are the low hanging fruit. You are the victim waiting to happen. And you won’t have to wait for long.

 

*

39 bikes

unlocked/locked to itself                   10

cable                                              13

newer u-lock/heavy duty chain            8

item locked to defeated                      8

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 5, 2011 at 7:17am
So unilaterally demanding that all discussion end due to your own anecdotal observations was just you being facetious?
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on June 5, 2011 at 12:21pm
I see an awful lot of people in bike shops replacing stolen bikes...
Permalink Reply by David on June 5, 2011 at 4:30pm

We can also strive to be accurate when we talk about bike theft in Chicago.

 

My first year in Chicago I was completely paranoid about bike theft.  After seeing all the postings on the registry and reading scare stories on forums like this and advice about how you must ride a cheap beater bike and make it look as ugly as possible, I hated to leave my bike anywhere.  And that had a huge effect on how often I used my bike.  I really thought that if I couldn't take it inside wherever I was going, it was just too much risk to ride my bike.

 

It wasn't until later that I looked a little deeper and realized that less than 10% of the postings on the registry followed the basic pattern of "u-locked to something sturdy", and a good percentage of those thefts occurred in high-theft areas like train stations and colleges.    If you're lucky enough to avoid those areas, don't have to leave the bike out overnight, and u-lock it decently, the chance of theft seems to be extremely low for a big city like Chicago (yes, I realize I might be jinxing myself by saying that).

 

Sure, theft happens, and thieves do sometimes cut u-locks, and it's a terrible thing to get your bike stolen.  But I think people have the impression that by overstating the problem they're doing a service because that pushes newbies to lock their bikes better.  In fact, I bet all the hyperventilating over theft has the opposite effect: it makes newbies not want to ride their bikes in the city.   

 

I wish I had read Kevin's post when I first arrived here.  I don't read it as "blame the victim", I read it as "most theft is avoidable, so follow some basic precautions then go ahead and enjoy your bike". 



Steven Vance said:

What can we do as Chainlink members?

We can stop blaming victims. 

 

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on June 6, 2011 at 12:08am

You sir, have captured the essence of the post.

 

David also said:

I read it as "most theft is avoidable, so follow some basic precautions then go ahead and enjoy your bike".

H3N3 said:



David said:

It wasn't until later that I looked a little deeper and realized that less than 10% of the postings on the registry followed the basic pattern of "u-locked to something sturdy", and a good percentage of those thefts occurred in high-theft areas like train stations and colleges.    If you're lucky enough to avoid those areas, don't have to leave the bike out overnight, and u-lock it decently, the chance of theft seems to be extremely low for a big city like Chicago (yes, I realize I might be jinxing myself by saying that).

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 6, 2011 at 12:37am

David has a point -but only to a certain extent.  

 

If people start locking their bikes up better, they will only move the bar of the low-hanging fruit.  The thieves will step up and learn to stretch a little and reach a little higher for the new standard of low-hanging fruit.

 

The low-hanging fruit will always be targeted.  The majority of thieves are not working under the theory of targets of opportunity.  They are career criminals who know that there is a bunch of money in stolen bikes and they will continue to operate using more advanced methods and tools.  Nothing will change except for that the bar will have been raised but the weak and the sick of the herd will continue to be targeted as well as the "prized trophies" of the very high-end bikes regardless of how well they are locked as the value of these bikes will always make them lucrative to the thieves. 

 

The real point in David's post is that if we let the real facts of bike theft be overstated we do ourselves and the activity a disservice.  People will avoid riding if they feel that they are going to have to walk home or lose their property.  Bikes are pretty safe locked up at home but if they never leave the safety of the living room they aren't much use.

 

The "tennis shoes and the bear" theory of bike locks will always be in effect.  If you want to keep your bike yours then it's still going to be necessary to be able to run faster than your neighbors because always outrunning the bear is not in the cards. 

Permalink Reply by Gort 12-mile Pinklegneep on June 6, 2011 at 5:50am

1. bikes from the eighties

2. u-lock around the back wheel+ frame

3. cable around the front wheel

4. seat lock

 

Basically perfect bike security. Got to hit it right in the "more effort than it's worth" and other people being shabby with their bike locking really helps.

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