I do have some sympathy with what a few of the commentators have said about the lack of a police operation, particularly what Pawsey_Bear has said, although I would say police in Bristol are interested. Many are MTB’s themselves.
Let me explain something. Ashton Court Estate is policed by "J" district (North Somerset) that is headquartered at Weston-Super-Mare. In policing terms therefore it is NOT a 'Bristol' (as in policing area) problem, which as we know suffers from a high percentage of bike thefts. It’s a thin to vanishing thought that “J” district would have been aware or even anticipated that this was going to take place because in the past they would not have received an inordinate amount of allegations for this type of offence at anytime across their area. Hindsight as they say is a fantastic thing. As far as I know (and I'm prepared to be corrected on this) there were no such thefts last year at ACE. It’s unlikely that the prospect of coordinated bike thefts would not have been communicated to officers at Weston. Could Bristol police have sniffed this a possible circumstance – maybe, but then it would have to be sold to the divisional commander for WSM who has to resource any pro-active endeavor with a finite number of officers over a Friday and Saturday evening when it’s kicking off on the promenade. Of course members of the public are not going to appreciate border distinctions or the politics behind certain decisions, but divisional commanders with competing and higher priority demands do. I’m not saying that’s the case here. I just don’t think it was ever raised as a potential issue by ANYBODY. I might be wrong. It's incumbent on the people that arrange these events and the greater MTB community at large to work with the police on this.
People need to understand that acquisitive crime has changed. Ram raids have all but diminished for example, however there has been a huge rise in TARGETED pedal cycle theft, due to the uptake in the hobby/sport and the proceeds that stolen bikes/components can net the thief or handler. If caught it’s unlikely the courts will take it so seriously that they will impose a custodial sentence. It's a very attractive way to make a criminal living. The offenders for this no doubt attend events of this sort up and down the country and it would be no surprise to me if they weren't native to Bristol. Mountain bike theft has now become big business for them. People need to take some responsibility for their possessions and wise up. It's a tough pill but there it is I'm afraid.
If they hadn’t done so (I didn’t attend BBF) the organisers for these events ought to display signs and highlight the issue and maybe next year write to the local divisional commander responsible for the area the event is taking place and suggest that there could be rich pickings for taking some crooks out by covert means or preventing theft by an overt presence. This would possibly have to be funded by the event itself to some degree.
All the best.
