My mate had his two bikes stolen recently during a spate of thefts in South Wales. I've subsequently found some of the parts on Ebay (the same seller) and whilst helping the police with how to search ebay etc I asked them for a list of the recently stolen bikes (as I believe at least one of the local ones was also sold by the same seller).
I have both a professional and personal interest as I'm in the bike trade and able to help with identifying them. Their response so far has been "I'm not sure we can due to data protection". Anybody know if this is the case or are they just fobbing me off?
If anyone reading this has had their bike stolen from the Swansea area post a pic of it here and I'll take a look at the seller. I don't want to publicise the sellers name yet as we'd like him caught.
Just a list of bikes wouldn't breach DPA, it only covers personal data.
[i]I'm not sure[/i] we can due to data protection is at least honest!
As above, I don't see how a list of models breaches the act, but it's a constant hot topic for police so unsurprising that they're cautious. Good idea though so worth persevering.
Fingers crossed they send it as the seller has sold an odd array of bikes, they don't seem suspicious at first but once I saw my mates parts the other starts to look a bit odd
Ironically enough, you get exemptions from provisions of the DPA for the prevention and detection of crime...
lost all hope/faith with the police ,saw earlier this year my mates trek remedy for sale on facebook on a buy and sell site ,was on a plate for plod with none of the after market parts swopped ,he went to our local station then the police in the area the bike was and then to a officer who i know personally who was told to drop it .we wondered if he was the local police informant and in truth i wanted to take matters in to our own hands,what else can you really do?
When I found one of mine on eBay they took action straight away. They visited the seller's house because they knew his eBay ID. He was out but while Police sat outside the seller and his mate roll up in a van with 5 bikes in the back. Both were caught and charged for handling stolen goods. 180 hours community service and fines etc.
Police were really good and were very savvy with eBay. Unfortunately our libertarian laws offer too many freedoms and thieves get it easy.
Well so far i've heard nothing back. If I've not heard by monday then im tempted to buy the cranks so at least we have a direct ebay and paypal trail we can follow and maybe push the police into action.
I would have thought I was under DPA as they hold the data on stolen bikes as some one reported it to them. They are holding data of a 3rd party.
Besides, I suspect they would probably have to spend hours redacting the actual personal data out of the file before handing it over.
Spev, no doubt when you buy the cranks they will then nick you instead for handling stolen goods! I don't have any faith in my local police
If you think that they're your parts, and that the Police hold information which may be helpful to YOU in court proceedings, say to have items returned, then you send a Section 35 request to the Police -this is a specific request provided for by the DPA.
The Police should be well aware of this, they deal with it all the time. Its just the usual lazy plod fobbing you off.
Try this
Re the items listed
If you can find the address of the seller
contact the neighbourhood policing team that covers that address give them all the details you have they should be able to get a warrant to search the place
contact crime stoppers and give them the address and the items listed this can then be passed on to the local police Intel unit to deal with
Please do this
Graham
180 hours community service and fines etc.
This is the problem. The police just don't think its worth it as bike theft, despite how organised it has got, is viewed as 'low level' and thus not worth allocating sufficient resources to.
The cranks are 100% the ones that were on the recently stolen Nukeproof (as were the Hope Brakes sold 8 days ago). I've been told that the local Intel unit will only deal with us via another officer which just seems to include another clueless individual into the mix (not their fault really). I'm gonna badger em again in the morning and then badger West Sussex Police as well.
Oh and bearing in mind that we have had over 25 high end bikes stolen in the last 2 months from this area you do think that maybe they would be more interested.
Out of interst, where in Swansea has this spate of thefts been?
mostly Sketty and Dunvant areas but they targeted Pennard/Southgate last week
The frame,forks,wheels,mech,shifter and rear shock ( changed from standard) have turned up on eBay as a complete bike but with some parts changed. Its a different seller but in the same area, waiting for the local seargant to get back to my mate.
Devash, I think you may be mixing up the Police with judiciary. The Police have no influence over the punishment, which in turn doesn't influence a Police Officer's investigation.
The Police do think it's worth it - bicycle theft is usually by means of Burglary, which is a National priority. Burglaries are usually the type of incident that will get any Cop racing to the scene. However, you have to put this in the context of budget cuts. I recall hearing last week that Police Officer numbers were lower now than at any time since 1993. Just a very quick look at the Government statistics shows a reduction of 15,859 officers since 2010. Quite simply, there aren't enough Police to deal with the volume of crime. Because of further budget cuts, this will only get worse. As an example, when I started working in my particular dept/specialism in 2003, there were over 130 of us - there are now 37. Now, we weren't over staffed; we were incredibly pro-active. Unfortunately we are now a reactive unit, that offers very little in the way of prevention.
The Police are interested, there just aren't that many around any more.
Thought burglary was low priority, more so if from an out building. Robbery on the other hand is much higher as there is threat to a victim at the scene of the crime, who is also a witness, and a much higher punishment involved. Hence a higher risk to the criminal.
Many bike thefts are just plain theft anyway, lower than burglary, e.g. taking a bike locked to a railing or not even locked up. Theft from a car even.
Also aren't the police supposed to prioritise on the basis of what will likely get a conviction? Yes they aren't involved in the punishment but they do seem to let things go that they know will not go to court.
But indeed, resources are the limitation, hence priorities. I'm sure it doesn't help if the force is spending more of its time on anti-terrorism.
Also aren't the police supposed to prioritise on the basis of what will likely get a conviction? Yes they aren't involved in the punishment but they do seem to let things go that they know will not go to court.
No, not at all - it's generally the CPS who make the charging decision. The Police investigate (often guided by a CPS Lawyer), then presents all of evidence they have to the CPS who decide whether or not to charge. It's a flawed system, but it's the system we have to work with. The Exceptions are where a suspect has effectively admitted the offence (it does sometimes happen).