Today whilst in Cardiff city centre, my bike was stolen from outside the Capitol shopping centre Tesco store.
It was locked up in an area full of other bikes, in an area specifically for locking up bikes, covered by cctv camera's and busy with shoppers and drinkers outside on this otherwise beautiful day.
Admittedly I had used a combination cable lock and not my usual D-lock as I was in a rush for work this morning and couldn't find my key, but you'd assume it would have been fine for a short while.
So between 3:45pm - 4:00pm my On One Parkwood, Graham (named after my late grandfather who passed away the same weekend I purchased the bike) was taken from me! I'd gone into the Tesco's store and asked if they had footage but was told to see the shopping centre's security team.
I'd spoken to a security guard who radioed the control room while we walked to the spot to see if the cctv camera had picked anything up but apparently it wasn't looking at that spot during the time the robbery occurred. The guard then informed me that there's been quite a few bike thefts in the area very recently and told the police they need a dedicated camera on the bike lock up area.
I'd then called the police who took my details and gave me a crime number, but that was it.
I know it's not the crime of the century but will they do much to chase this up?
I know to keep a look out at cash generators on gumtree, ebay etc. But what to do next?
Is there anything I can do? Do the police control the cctv camera network or do they have to request this kind of thing? What about the footage from other premises in the area, am I allowed to ask to see this my self?
There's apparently quite a few camera's in that area and was hoping someone on here had some information as to who I can contact to follow this up or help speed up the process at all?!
Any advice or help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks
If they are like GMP they will do the square route of **** all. Then send you a letter in 2 weeks time stating that the case is now closed.
Musk - I'm sorry for your loss.
Unfortunately security cameras can't be viewed by just anyone for data protection/privacy reasons so I'm afraid you'll be onto a non-starter if you try to make any progress yourself. This means it'll be down to the police to progress any investigation. So, before the barrage of police-bashing begins, I'll give you an insight...
Over the past few years the number of police officers has fallen and the way police are recording crime has changed; something as simply bad-mouthing someone on Facebook now has to be recorded as a crime. Needless to say crime numbers have sky-rocketed and certain crimes have to be given priority over others (usually anything Domestic violence related, harassment etc) and everything else gets very little attention simply because there aren't the cops to investigate the reports. This is where your report of bike theft will lie. Unfortunately, your call would have gone to a person sat behind a desk who would've taken the report and generated a number, a statistic.
So to quote Samuelr, the police where you are will probably do 'the square root of **** all' and that's probably because the cops will never get to hear about the theft of your bike. You can thank the government for that.
So what you're basically saying is unless I'm battering someone in the street or stealing from a shop nothing will get done or come of this?
So theres not much of a deterrent for people walking the streets with bolt cutters and seeing what they can pick up?
What a shit world we live in.
I know it’s not the crime of the century but will they do much to chase this up?
Nope. That's why bike theft is a zero risk crime. Even if they nicked someone there's little done about it unless they've caught them for something else worth prosecuting. There's no return so it's not worth the hassle and paperwork.
Though you'll probably get a leaflet about victim support.
What to do? Feel angry, claim on insurance if possible, get another bike and move on.
It's shit, but the police and thief have also moved on and don't care. Chances of getting the bike back are very slim, but you might get lucky with Gumtree/eBay etc. You'll have to do all the work to get it back though. More likely it's stripped for parts, sold on already or in a container heading overseas.
It's always been a hotshot for bike theft there, dunno why as it's pretty open and busy with plenty of CCTV around. All you can do is make your bike the least easy option. The police will do nothing about it sadly for the reasons stated above. The Cash Converters on Albany Road (think it's called Re-Generate now?) Is the local place for cashing in bikes but the staff there are pretty hot on it so might be worth having a word with them and see if it's been in there.
Join your local Facebook buy & sell groups & put out a stolen post with pics.
I actually got mine back after we were burgled.
Guy tired to swap it with someone else who was selling their bike on Facebook
The guy seeking his bike was suspicious & checked https://stolen-bikes.co.uk where id put up the details of my bike
Contacted the police who recognised perp immediately from his Facebook profile, nicked him & recovered my bike 🙂
So be proactive, get some ads out & search classifieds , eBay, gumtree etc
Chase it up? I’m afraid they won’t give it another thought. Insurance?
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.390625px; background-color: #fbfbfb;">Unfortunately security cameras can’t be viewed by just anyone for data protection/privacy reasons so I’m afraid you’ll be onto a non-starter if you try to make any progress yourself. </span>
Yes and no. If you're in it you can make a 'subject access request' I think it's called, to see it, same as you can to see any other data they hold about you. You can't just see any random clips you fancy. You are definitely allowed to see you locking it up and looking for it when you get back.
Not sure if you can ask to see all footage of your bike or just you though, hopefully they won't cut it when you.leave the shot and restart when you reappear after the bike has gone, you obviously need it from the.moment you arrive to the moment you finally leave.
Put it on the stolen bike register (along with the thousands of other bikes stolen every day). Most likely they saw you lock it up and that's it gone.